Monroe Free Library

"A literary courtroom thriller about a mother accused of murdering her eight-year-old autistic son." --

"'Your husband is a landowner,' they told her. 'Food and clothing is so plentiful, it grows on trees. 'You will be able to go to school.' Of the three lies the matchmaker told Willow before she left home as a picture bride in 1918, the third hurt the most. Never one to be deterred, Willow does all that she can to make the best of her unexpected circumstance. But it isn't long before her dreams for this new life are shattered, first by a husband who...

"In South Korea, a 105-year-old woman receives a letter. Ten days later, she has been thrust into the afterlife, fighting to head off a curse that will otherwise devastate generations to come. Hak Jeonga has always shouldered the burden of upholding the family name. When she sent her daughter-in-law to America to cover up an illegitimate birth, she was simply doing what was needed to preserve the reputations of her loved ones. How could she have...

The author of the Juniper Song crime trilogy delivers a "devastating exploration of grief, shame, and deeply buried truths" (Catherine Chung, author of The Tenth Muse) in this powerful and taut novel about racial tensions following two Los Angeles families--one Korean-American, one African American--grappling with the effects of a decades-old crime.

"The North Korean defector, human rights advocate, and bestselling author of In Order to Live sounds the alarm on the culture wars, identity politics, and authoritarian tendencies tearing America apart. After defecting from North Korea, Yeonmi Park found liberty and freedom in America. But she also found a chilling crackdown on self-expression and thought that reminded her of the brutal regime she risked her life to escape. When she spoke out about...

"Dr. Yungman Kwak is in the twilight of his life. Every day for the last fifty years, he has brushed his teeth, slipped on his shoes, and headed to Horse Breath's General Hospital, where, as an obstetrician, he treats the women and babies of the small rural Minnesota town he chose to call home. This was the life he longed for - the American dream. He immigrated from Korea after the Korean War, forced to leave his family, ancestors, village, and all...

Harvey Award Nominee, Best Children or Young Adult Book

A powerful and moving teen graphic novel memoir about immigration, belonging, and how arts can save a life—perfect for fans of American Born Chinese and Hey, Kiddo.

For as long as she can remember, it's been Robin and her mom against the world. Growing up as the only child of a single mother in Seoul,

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"This wonderful hybrid of a novel--a love story, a war story, a novel of manners--introduces a writer of enchanting gifts, a beautiful heart wedded to a beautiful imagination. How else does Susan Choi so fully inhabit characters from disparate backgrounds, with such brilliant wit and insight? The Foreign Student stirs up great and lovely emotions."  - Francisco Goldman, author of The Ordinary Seaman The Foreign Student is the story of a young Korean...

A funny and incisive Korean family coming-of-age novel in stories about a 12-year-old boy who moves with his mother and sister from Korea to work at their father's Asian gift shop in a New Jersey strip mall-and the growing pains that ensue You're twelve years old. A month has passed since your Korean Air flight landed at lovely Newark Airport. Your fifteen-year-old sister is miserable. Your mother isn't exactly happy, either. You're seeing your father...

The long-running "Ask a North Korean" column produced by NK News in Washington D.C. invites readers to ask questions of recent North Korean defectors about everyday issues that are not generally discussed in the media. Various aspects of life in North Korea are discussed in this book through a series of interviews . These interviews show that even in the world's most authoritarian regime, there is still a degree of normality and continuity.