by Claire Ahn

This realistic fiction novel will be a sure winner with early intermediate readers. Melody and her mother live together in New York City while her father works in South Korea. He visits Melody and her mother three times each year. All of the sudden, Melody is told that she and her mother will be moving to Korea for her senior year in high school. How will she ever survive leaving her new best friend while learning to love a culture that she does not feel a part of? Melody enters a whole new elite world in Korea that is vastly different than the life she left behind. Korean culture, Korean fook, and language are infused throughout the book which is absolutely wonderful.