Starred Review ALA Booklist (Thu Oct 31 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Starred Review In a sort of spiritual sequel to their critically acclaimed Banned Book Club (2020), Kim and Estrada offer another semiautobiographical story about Korea in the 1980s. Hyun Sook is active on her school's folk-dance team, which puts on traditional satirical plays. For her, it's a way to criticize the government without actually criticizing the government, which is illegal. Also illegal? The contraband book she carries in her bag as she and her team set off on a hiking trip to the mountains. There's an overall feeling of levity on the trip (aided significantly by the brightly colored, often comical cartoon artwork), even away from the prying eyes of the surveillance state, the undercurrent of fear never goes away. When she suspects a new student of being a government spy, Hyun Sook desperately tries to get rid of the book unnoticed, while other students contemplate their relationship to the authoritarian government in various ways. The vignette plot structure and large cast occasionally make the through line tough to follow, but what's unmistakable is the crushing paranoia (and subsequent threat of police violence) these young adults feel in a society that strictly regulates what they're permitted to read, listen to, and say. Teens acutely aware of the threats to freedom of expression in our current era will be absolutely hooked.

School Library Journal Starred Review (Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Gr 7 Up— Centering on a transformative camping trip, this graphic novel captures the bravery of a group of South Korean students as they experience a weekend free from the repression and surveillance that wait for them back home. It's 1984, and members of Anjeon University's folk dance team are preparing for a hiking getaway when the group's director is arrested for listening to music banned by the government. His arrest, combined with random police stops and the threat of informants, make the students eager to escape to the mountains and experience the freedom of Christmas Eve—a night traditionally unburdened by restrictions. Hyun Sook, who plays the janggu drum for the team, spends the evening struggling between her desire to lead a prohibited banned book club and her fear of discovery and punishment. The other members of the team use their night of freedom to express their anxiety about the future, find romance, and reveal secrets that they wouldn't be able to back home. The charming and colorful illustrations capture the trip's good cheer while also giving weight to the fear that surrounds the students' daily lives. Sook and Estrada, the team that created Banned Book Club , deliver well-developed characters that have diverse backgrounds and motivations, with a story that includes affirming queer and trans representation. VERDICT An insightful and empowering graphic novel about the complexities of 1980s South Korea, featuring young people's pursuit of justice and freedom of thought despite the risks.— Emily Yates

Kirkus Reviews

A college student in 1984 South Korea addresses the personal and political in this graphic novel drawn from author Kim's lifeHyun Sook joins fellow members of Anjeon University's folk-dance club-a group that performs satirical, sometimes subversive, works-on a winter break hiking trip to the mountains. She packs the copy of Erich Fromm'sThe Art of Loving that club director Hoon gave her, describing it as a work of "socialist philosophy." She and Hoon were in a club that read banned books, but they've been extra careful ever since a friend was imprisoned after being caught with a history of communism. Although the authoritarian political conditions are improving, Hyun Sook is aware of the cost of dissent. Starting another book club would be dangerous, but she hopes to teach others about the rights they've lost. Enjoying the getaway while surreptitiously continuing her political education isn't easy. The bright, cheerfully cartoonlike drawings contrast with the serious topics, echoing the students' balancing act as they pursue ordinary interests, such as romance, while protesting the dictatorship. The storyline introduces many characters and subplots that would have benefited from greater explication; Hyun Sook at times gets lost amid the clamor. Nevertheless, small details-a girl being harassed by police for wearing a too-short skirt, students cautiously walking to school past menacing troops in riot gear-authentically evoke the stark realities of the era.A vivid if overstuffed portrayal of life under a dictatorship that educates and informs.(Graphic fiction. 12-18)