I am delighted to know that Ellen Oh, the founder of We Need Diverse Books and advocate of ‘Own Voices’ has written such a meaningful story that focuses on difficult topics like depression, suicide, death and war. I really appreciate how the story is being told from two perspectives - from Junie’s perspective with a first person point of view, and also from the perspective of a historical narrative.
As I read through the chapters, my heart celebrates and aches for the characters. I was deeply touched when Junie’s grandparents explained about the Korean history particularly the Korean War which I have limited knowledge of. Reading this beautiful novel made me realise how tragic living in Korea was at this time.
What strong characters they were!!!
I have also learned from the characters that we can’t remain silent if we want to combat racism. Finding Junie Kim is a wonderful example of a window, mirror and sliding glass door (Sims-Bishop, 1990) book. Anyone from all walks of life can relate to this book.
Please do take note of the descriptions of the realities of war mentioned in the book that may be traumatic for some students, but let that not keep you away from reading this book. Finding Junie Kim is a must for all libraries.
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