Seoulmates

Told in alternating perspectives, Lee’s stirring debut follows two estranged Korean American childhood best friends’ rekindling as they navigate identity and blossoming first love. After her boyfriend Nate, who is white, dumps her, stating they have nothing in common (“You just don’t know anything about K-pop or Korean dramas,” he says), 17-year-old Hannah Cho’s dreams of their carefree summer together are ruined. To win Nate back, she endeavors to learn more about Korean pop culture, but the arrival of her former best friend Jacob Kim, 18 and now a K-drama star, throws a wrench into her plans. Unaddressed feelings of hurt and abandonment resurface, stemming from Jacob’s move from San Diego to South Korea three years prior, as the duo help each other through individual internal conflicts, including Hannah’s fears of being left behind by the people she loves and Jacob’s feelings of isolation and anxiety caused by his career. Recalling the effusive expression, fast pace, and dramatic moments of a K-drama, Lee celebrates Korean culture, and examines its objectification within the U.S., via a good- humored and tenderly written second chance at love. Ages 13–up. Agent: Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary. (Sept.)