Unidentified Suburban Object by Mike Jung
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
So this one is mostly a realistic ya novel of a girl trying to connect with her Korean heritage while her parents resist saying it’s “too hard” or “too painful” to think about the family’s past. I had a few students in mind as I read this and thought of my own grandfather from Italy, whom I never had the chance to talk to about his reasons for leaving Italia. All this is until there is a shift in the story line, and the realistic cultural quest becomes more sci-fi. I can see how this will appeal to some students because the shift was sort of fun, and I found Chloe’s resistance to her school and friend identity as believable; however, I am not sure that this plot twist worked or was necessary. I am interested to hear what student-readers think of this one.