Thursday, March 23, 2017

Unidentified Suburban Object by Mike Jung – OPTIONAL

Jung, Mike Unidentified Suburban Object 272 pgs. Scholastic, 2016. $16.99 Content: Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G Violence: G
Chloe is just a normal girl starting 7th grade. Lately she has become more interested in her Korean heritage, something her parents don’t seem to be very supportive of, which upsets her to no end. When a teacher at school assigns her to find out a family story, her dad finally caves and tells her a detailed story about a great uncle. But when the teachers brings her in and tells her that she plagiarized, that her story was from a book, Chloe confronts her father. Turns out her heritage is much more complicated than she could imagine.
Spoiler Alert: This is like realistic fiction with a dash of sci-fi. I think many students will relate to feeling like an outsider, like Chloe feels being the only Korean, as well as her feelings of wanting to connect with her heritage. I must say, that the big secret was a shock and also kind of boring at the same time. I think readers will be slightly disappointed, if you are going to go Sci-fi, this is just dipping your toes in the water. The cover is really unappealing, I thought it was going to a book for 3rd grade reluctant readers about zombie goldfish.

EL –OPTIONAL  Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.

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