Brave Enough

The study of history should make you uncomfortable. If it doesn’t, you either don’t have the capacity to feel another’s pain, or your history lessons have been watered down.

If you’re brave enough to be a student of history, you will know the danger we are in now.

If you’re brave enough to read middle grade literature, you understand how racism impacts young people.

If you want insight into racism and lived history, read Ellen Oh’s Finding Junie Kim. In an age of blatant white supremacy and America’s involvement in wars around the world, this is an especially important story.

Junie Kim is dealing with a school bully, and as a new school year starts, she is estranged from her friends who had been a circle of protection. She’s the only one without a cell phone, and she feels left out of their conversations.

When swastikas are spray painted on the walls of the middle school gym, Junie’s friends want to fight back. Junie is afraid, and her fear cuts her off from her friends even more. She throws herself into a school assignment, interviewing her grandparents who grew up in Korea during the Korean War. Their stories give her the courage to confront her own situation.

Parents, read this book for yourself, then share it with your children and grandchildren. Don’t think Kid Lit is just for kids. This is a book for everyone.