Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook and Ryan Estrada - ADVISABLE

Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook and Ryan Estrada, 197 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL. Iron Circus Comics, 2020. $15.

Language: PG (2 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

All Hyun Sook wants is to go to college and continue her education. With protests all over the campus, her mom tries to get her to stay home by saying it’s too dangerous to go. Nevertheless, Hyun Sook enrolls in classes and even looks into extracurricular activities -- only a week into classes, she finds the most important lessons outside the classroom.

While the story is based on true events during South Korea’s military regime in the 1980s, there is relevance to our own politically-charged environment. As Hyun Sook starts to learn about what the political leaders are doing in her time and what her opinions are, readers feel encouraged to know both the issues and the stances of leaders meant to represent them. Kim does a great job of balancing humor and the seriousness of what went on during the time period this is set in. The mature content rating is for partial nudity and implied rape, and the violence rating is for Molotov cocktails, protest violence, and beatings.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen