Eleven-year-old Yumi Chung doesn’t have anyone to sit with at lunch, but she secretly harbors dreams of becoming a comedian. Shy + Asian + Girl = Comedian? Why, yes. Yes, it does.

Winston Preparatory Academy is a shy person’s nightmare. Yumi hides from the beautiful girls and the bullies who call her “Yu-meat” because she smells like her parents’ Korean barbecue restaurant. This summer, her parents are demanding that she go to Korean summer school, or hagwon, to get a near-perfect score on the high school entrance exam—because that is the only way to attend an elite college, like her superachiever sister, a 20-year-old med student. Yumi collects all of her fears and frustrations (and jokes) in her Super-Secret Comedy Notebook. When a case of mistaken identity allows her to attend a comedy camp taught by her YouTube idol, Yumi is too panicked to correct the problem—and then it spirals out of control. With wonderful supporting characters, strong pacing, and entertaining comedy bits, debut author Kim has woven a pop song of immigrant struggle colliding with comedy and Korean barbecue. With their feet in two different cultures, readers listen in on honest conversations, full of halting English and unspoken truths painting a realistic picture of 21st-century first-generation Americans—at least a Korean version. By becoming someone else, Yumi learns more about herself and her family in an authentic and hilarious way.

Readers will cheer the birth of this comedian. (Fiction. 9-12)

-Kirkus Review

Yumi really gets herself into an awkward situation when she innocently walks into the new comedy club near her house to look around, and not-so-innocently allows herself to be mistaken for a student at Comedy Camp! She didn't mean to pretend to be Kay Nakamura, but when the teacher thinks she is Kay, Yumi wants to stay at camp so badly that she goes along with it. Then she keeps doing it! Little lies turn into bigger and bigger lies... Yumi needs to find a way out of all the friend and family drama she is creating! ( )

A heartfelt and authentic look at shy-girl problems and at navigating family expectations. I love that humor is at the heart of this story, and while I tend to find self-mortification more cringy than funny, Kim does an excellent job walking the line and showcasing the rewards that bravery can bring. Nice to see a book set in the Korean immigrant experience; even nicer to see Yumi's dad embrace some of his own dreams at the end. Good message, enjoyable read. ( )

Yumi wants to be a good student to make her family happy, but she also really wants to practice to eventually become a stand-up comedian -- something her hard-working immigrant parents do not understand or recognize as a career goal. The tension between these two strands becomes particularly strong when Yumi accidentally stumbles into a children's comedy camp on her way to the library to study for a scholarship exam. Yumi struggles with her identity quite literally with the summer camp thinking she's another child and metaphorically as she wonders how to get her parents to see her point of view ever.

This was a fantastic read, full of heart and wit. While Yumi's specific situation might not be recognizable to many (especially given the bit of a stretch with her case of mistaken identity), the feelings of trying to find a place to belong and growing up/away from parental expectations are no doubt unmistakable feelings for many middle schoolers. Yumi, her friends, and family are all presented as interesting characters that feel real. It was a lovely experience getting to know them and while the book was perfectly paced with a fitting ending, it was hard to leave them all. There is definitely a message in the book about being true to one's self, but it doesn't feel heavy handed in its presentation. ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr.

Plot Summary: Yumi Chung WANTS to be a comedian just like her idol Jasmine Jasper. But Yumi can't seem to gain enough confidence to have a smooth and engaging delivery of her original material. When, by shear luck, her idol is offering a summer improv camp at a new local theater, Yumi gets wrapped up in a lie pretending she is someone else. Someone else who paid for the camp. Should she keep going when it's the first time she's been successful at making others laugh? Or is hiding the truth worth it if it means she can continue to do what she loves and be successful? side plots: saving Yumi's parents restaurant, getting the scholarship

Setting: Los Angeles

Characters:
Yumi Chung - doesn't care about school and it shows in her grades, needs to maintain a very high score on an upcoming exam in order to get a scholarship to her private school since her parents' restaurant is losing business with the neighborhood changes and they can't afford it anymore
Yuri Chung - Yumi's oldest sister, 20 yo, skipped two grades and attended college early
Jasmine Jasper - famous comedian who has a vlog
Manuel - cook in Yumi's parent's restaurant, can cook anything from any ethnicity, the only person who Yumi feels comfortable trying her jokes out on
Mrs. Pak - Yumi's tutor, known to be intimidating and strict

Recurring Themes: confidence, stand up comedy, secret identity, standing up for what you believe in, friendship, tutoring, family pressure, Korean, help parents run business

Controversial Issues:
pg 25 - "so fricking funny"

Personal Thoughts: While I had to suspend my disbelief that some of these things could actually happen in this realistic book, overall I thought it was well written and engaging.

Genre: realistic fiction

Pacing: medium-fast
Characters: well developed
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: