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It's a remarkably grim YA story that belies any of the luck invoked in the title. Mary does not have an easy go of it and at first her story clashes with the dreamy love triangle she finds herself enmeshed in that is reminiscent of Patricia Park's Re Jane. How could I not appreciate the story of a 2nd generation Korean story set just up the road from where I grew up. So much of it was familiar even down to the disappearance of an aunt. (in my case an uncle disappeared and was given up for dead only to turn up in North Korea 40 years later)
I am here for books that represent the environment I grew up in, that share a common language of the second generation experience. I realize that the gossiping parents that trade in their kids achievements isn't confined to Asians. Their constant reminders of the sacrifices they've made and the implied fealty that it demands is common across cultures and yet there is a distinctly Korean flavour here which I recognize and love.
