Published by Kokila

Summary:  Yumi Chung knows what she wants: to be a stand-up comedian.  She practices for hours, inspired by her YouTube hero, Jasmine Jasper.  Unfortunately, reality doesn’t match Yumi’s dreams.  She attends an exclusive private school, pushed by her parents to get ready for a top college.  She’s spending the summer studying for a scholarship exam, because her parents’ Korean restaurant is failing.  So when she accidentally wanders into Jasmine Jasper’s comedy camp and is mistaken for another girl, she decides to go with it.  With new friends and a sense of empowerment on stage, Yumi is happier than she’s ever been, until one day when her whole web of lies unravels.  With her beloved sister going to Nepal for two years, the restaurant days away from failure, and her parents and friends angry with her, it’s up to Yumi to figure out how to be true to herself and save the day.  320 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  Yumi is a worthy successor to Front Desk’s Mia, a funny and insightful narrator who must deal with her immigrant parents’ expectations while trying to figure out who she is.  Her parents seem stereotypical at first, but a few heart-to-heart talks reveal to Yumi (and the reader) their hopes, dreams, and motivations for doing what they do.  And like Mia, Yumi is ultimately committed to her family’s success and is the one who comes up with the idea to save their business.

Cons:  The series of events that got Yumi into Jasmine’s comedy school were a bit of a stretch.

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