Recommended Ages: Gr. 3-6

Plot Summary: All Yuna wants is to be American, have sleepovers with her friends and bring American lunches to school. She and her mom have a big fight about it and Yuna wishes upon her 1000 origami stars that she can go back to Korea. But then her halmoni in Korea dies and the family travels back to Korea immediately. As soon as they arrive, their older cousin whisks them away to halmoni's house while Yuna's parents join the funeral events. Yuna doesn't remember her cousin because the last time they visited was 5 years before. She also doesn't really remember her halmoni and now she's confused, she felt too Korean in American and too American in Korea. Where does she fit in? If her wish is what killed her halmoni, can she race against the clock to bring her back by making 1000 more paper stars?

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Recurring Themes: death, loss, American, immigrant, family, wishes, grief, Korea, culture

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: While I don't like magical realism, overall this book had insanely impressive emotions of grief, assimilation to American culture, and clashing with parents. I also thought the honesty of having negative thoughts about the person who died is a very real thing many people face.

Genre: realistic with fantastical element of her skin turning to paper

Pacing: fast, very few words
Characters: well developed, fight seems authentic
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