I'm Ok

(Hardback)

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Description

An Asian/Pacific American Literature Award Honor Book

Ok Lee is determined to find the perfect get-rich-quick scheme in this funny, uplifting novel that bestselling author Gene Luen Yang called So funny and heartfelt.

Ok Lee knows its his responsibility to help pay the bills. With his father gone and his mother working three jobs and still barely making ends meet, theres really no other choice. If only he could win the cash prize at the school talent contest! But he cant sing or dance, and has no magic up his sleeves, so he tries the next best thing: a hair braiding business.

Its too bad the girls at school cant pay him much, and hes being befriended against his will by Mickey McDonald, the unusual girl with a larger-than-life personality. Who needs friends Theyd only distract from his mission, and Ok believes life is better on his own. Then theres Asa Banks, the most popular boy in their grade, whos got it out for Ok.

But when the pushy deacon at their Korean church starts wooing Oks mom, its the last straw. Ok has to come up with an exit strategyfast.

Reviews

"I love the profound honesty of I'm Ok. Patti Kim goes beyond giving us a fully-realized and finely-drawn character: She illuminates the truth that an awkward, confused, funny, and tender thirteen-year-old still lives inside every one of us." -- Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medalist
So funny and heartfelt. You know how they say the best fiction is true even though its made up This book is true. -- Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese
Narrator Ok navigates this full plot with quirky humor that borders on dark at times. His feelings and actions dealing with his grief are authentic. . . . A work of heavy, realistic fiction told with oddball humor, honesty, and heart. -- Kirkus Reviews
A poignant look at navigating changes in family dynamics and welcoming unexpected friendships. This is an important novel that can serve as either a window or a mirror for middle-grade readers, making it ripe for wide appeal. -- Booklist
A stirring finale. . . . Ok tells his own story with humor and pathos. A South Korean immigrant herself, Kim incorporates Korean touches which add authenticity to the novel. Recommended. -- School Library Connection
An honest and poignant tale of an adolescent attempting to navigate his feelings of loss and inadequacy, and Kim writes with easygoing accessibility and vivid detail. -- BCCB
"Kim, also a Korean immigrant, tells a moving story of family, culture, and growing up, through the eyes of a boy who struggles to fulfill his fathers American dream and maintain his own sense of pride. Oks anger and frustration about his fathers death and his mothers burgeoning relationship with a deacon from their church ring particularly true, as do his ethical and emotional growth. -- Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

Born in Busan, South Korea,Patti Kimimmigrated to the United States on Christmas, 1974. Convinced at the age of five that she was a writer, she scribbled gibberish all over the pages of her mothers Korean-English dictionary and got in big trouble for it. But that didnt stop her from writing. The author ofIm Ok; Its Girls Like You, Mickey;A Cab Called Reliable; andHere I Am, Patti lives in University Park, Maryland, with her husband, two daughters, and a ferocious terrier. Visit her online at PattiKimWrites.com.