Books with author Marie G. Lee

Ellen Sung is taken unawares by Tomper Sandel, and when he kisses her, her whole world shifts. She doesn’t have time for a boyfriend, especially one who’s probably not going to college. She’s completely absorbed in keeping her grades up to please her strict immigrant parents who will freak out if she doesn’t get into Harvard. Even an evening with her best friend, Jessie, feels like guilty time away from her studies. She can’t tell her parents about Tomper, or about the racist slurs she receives in school. These days, Ellen’s not sure whom to please. And what about what she wants: does that matter at all?

Ellen Sung is taken unawares by Tamper Sandel, and when he kisses her, her whole world shifts. She doesn't have time for a boyfriend, especially one who's probably not going to college. She's completely absorbed in keeping her grades up to please her strict immigrant parents, who will freak out if she doesn't get into Harvard. Even an evening with her best friend, Jessie, feels like guilty time away from her studies. She can't tell her parents about Tomper, or about the racist slurs she receives in school. These days, Ellen's not sure whom to please. And what about what she wants: does that matter at all?

Chan Kim has never felt like an outsider in his life. That is, not until his family moves from L.A. to a tiny town in Minnesota--Land of 10,000 Lakes--and probably 10,000 hicks,too. The Kims are the only Asian family in town, and when Chan and his twin sister, Young, attend high school, it's a blond-haired, blue-eyed whiteout.Chan throws himself into the only game in town--football--and the necessary roughness required to make a player. On the field it means "justifiable violence," but as Chan is about to discover, off the field it's a whole different ballgame . . .Chan Jung Kim has always been popular. But that was when he lived in L.A. and was the star of his soccer team. Now his family’s moved—to a tiny town in Minnesota, where football’s the name of the game and nobody has ever seen an Asian American family before. Desperate to fit in, Chan throws himself into the game—but he feels like an outsider. For the first time in his life, he finds himself thinking about what it really means to be Korean—and what is really important. By turns gripping, painful, funny, and illuminating, Necessary Roughness introduces a major new talent and a fresh young voice to the Harper list. 1997 Best Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)1998 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)Chan Jung Kim has always been popular. But that was when he lived in L.A. and was the star of his soccer team. Now his family’s moved—to a tiny town in Minnesota, where football’s the name of the game and nobody has ever seen an Asian American family before. Desperate to fit in, Chan throws himself into the game—but he feels like an outsider. For the first time in his life, he finds himself thinking about what it really means to be Korean—and what is really important. By turns gripping, painful, funny, and illuminating, Necessary Roughness introduces a major new talent and a fresh young voice to the Harper list. 1997 Best Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)1998 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)

Chan Kim has never felt like an outsider in his life. That is, not until his family moves from L.A. to a tiny town in Minnesota--Land of 10,000 Lakes--and probably 10,000 hicks,too. The Kims are the only Asian family in town, and when Chan and his twin sister, Young, attend high school, it's a blond-haired, blue-eyed whiteout.Chan throws himself into the only game in town--football--and the necessary roughness required to make a player. On the field it means "justifiable violence," but as Chan is about to discover, off the field it's a whole different ballgame . . .Chan Jung Kim has always been popular. But that was when he lived in L.A. and was the star of his soccer team. Now his family’s moved—to a tiny town in Minnesota, where football’s the name of the game and nobody has ever seen an Asian American family before. Desperate to fit in, Chan throws himself into the game—but he feels like an outsider. For the first time in his life, he finds himself thinking about what it really means to be Korean—and what is really important. By turns gripping, painful, funny, and illuminating, Necessary Roughness introduces a major new talent and a fresh young voice to the Harper list. 1997 Best Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)1998 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)Chan Jung Kim has always been popular. But that was when he lived in L.A. and was the star of his soccer team. Now his family’s moved—to a tiny town in Minnesota, where football’s the name of the game and nobody has ever seen an Asian American family before. Desperate to fit in, Chan throws himself into the game—but he feels like an outsider. For the first time in his life, he finds himself thinking about what it really means to be Korean—and what is really important. By turns gripping, painful, funny, and illuminating, Necessary Roughness introduces a major new talent and a fresh young voice to the Harper list. 1997 Best Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)1998 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)

Adopted as a baby, 12-year-old Alice Larsen is of Korean heritage but feels 100% American. Then Yoon Jun, a Korean immigrant, moves to her small Minnesota town, and Alice's parents start pressuring her to make friends with the strange new boy as a way to get in touch with her heritage. Alice resists--what would her friends think? Anyway, she's American. But when she and Yoon Jun are assigned to work together on a school project, she learns about KoreaIand about doing the right thing.