Reading Recommendations: Family Portrait

Hello readers! A new month means a new batch of recommendations. May’s theme is stories about family! I hope you enjoy these book picks!

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The Noh Family

When her friends gift her a 23-and-Me test as a gag, high school senior Chloe Kang doesn’t think much of trying it out. She doesn’t believe anything will come of it–she’s an only child, her mother is an orphan, and her father died in Seoul before she was even born, and before her mother moved to Oklahoma. It’s been just Chloe and her mom her whole life. But the DNA test reveals something Chloe never expected–she’s got a whole extended family from her father’s side half a world away in Korea. Her father’s family are owners of a famous high-end department store, and are among the richest families in Seoul. When they learn she exists, they are excited to meet her. Her mother has huge reservations, she hasn’t had a great relationship with her husband’s family, which is why she’s kept them secret, but she can’t stop Chloe from traveling to Seoul to spend two weeks getting to know the Noh family.

What I appreciated most about this novel is that it really tackles the thoughts and feelings surrounding moving towards the next chapter of your life. Chloe is trying to determine what career she really wants to pursue and not what others tell her to do. This trip is a way for her to make her own choices while finding the definition of what family means to her. It reminds readers that big decision can be scary but ultimately you have to do it’s best for you. I really enjoyed this novel thoroughly and all of its entertaining K-Drama elements.

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Junie

Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie.

When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act—one that rouses Minnie’s spirit from the grave, tethered to this world unless Junie can free her. She enlists the aid of Caleb, the guests’ coachman, and their friendship soon becomes something more. Yet as long-held truths begin to crumble, she realizes Bellereine is harboring dark and horrifying secrets that can no longer be ignored.

With time ticking down, Junie begins to push against the harsh current that has controlled her entire life. As she grapples with an increasingly unfamiliar world in which she has little control, she is forced to ask herself: When we choose love and liberation, what must we leave behind?

Junie is an emotional ride from beginning to end as Crosby crafts a story of teenager trying to carve out her own life (despite the confines of society). As Crosby states in her author note she wanted to shining a light on the individual humanity of enslaved people which this novel does. It does not shy away from the atrocities and horrors of slavery but manages to weave a strong narrative of hope through the viewpoint of the main character Junie. Most importantly it’s a story about healing and dealing with grief.

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The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting 

Kirishima Tooru is the right-hand man of the Sakuragi crime family. For him, the job is a perfect excuse to let his violent instincts run wild, earning him the nickname “the Demon of Sakuragi”. It seems like nothing will stand in the way of his vicious nature.

But then one day, he receives an assignment like never before from the boss—babysitting his daughter!

This is the heartwarming (or is it bloodcurdling?) story of a little girl and her yakuza caretaker!

Sometimes you just need to read a manga that is silly and fun. The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting just from the title and synopsis alone fits that description. What starts out as an outlandish premise actually turns into a touching story of a bond that is formed between the duo and how they help each other to grow. It’s very cute and has many wacky laugh-out-loud moments. I felt myself connecting to the characters by the end of the first volume and look forward to where new adventures where take them. If you’re looking for a story that is wholesome story of a man learning to take care his family, but also himself check out this series.

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Cousins In The Time of Magic

History is alive with magic. That’s what zany Tía Xia is always telling cousins Jorge, Camila, and Siggy. Daredevil Jorge couldn’t be more different than his cousins: Camila is a dreamer who adores animals and Siggy is an aspiring influencer who has an exclusive party to attend. And their aunt has many secrets, including a mysterious diamond-encrusted sword that Jorge definitely wasn’t supposed to see.

But when the three stumble upon a time portal in their aunt’s yard, they are transported back to 1862, a past filled with wonders—and dangers. To return to the present, they must race to deliver the sword to General Ignacio Zaragoza in time for the historic Battle of Puebla in Mexico: the foundation of the holiday Cinco de Mayo.

As their journey to Mexico takes them through the Civil War–era United States, the cousins see just how much US history has been shaped by Latin communities. They must find the power within themselves to make sure things happen as they’re supposed to, without altering the past.

This novel is fast-paced, and action-packed from start to finish. I love the concept of family magic giving Tia Xia and the cousins the power to travel through time. Otheguy does a fantastic job of making this novel an atmospheric read and immersive with all the attention to detail. Readers will feel as if they themselves have transported back in time with our main characters giving them a fish out of water feeling about their new surroundings. While there is danger lurking around every corner and time is limited, it only raises the stakes of their quest.

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The Shape of Lost Things

Skye Nickson’s world changed forever when her dad went on the run with her brother, Finn. It’s been four years without Finn’s jokes, four years without her father’s old soul music, and four years of Skye filling in as Rent-a-Finn on his MIA birthdays for their mom. Finn’s birthday is always difficult, but at least Skye has her best friends, Reece and Jax, to lean on, even if Reece has started acting too cool for them.

But this year is different because after Finn’s birthday, they get a call that he’s finally been found. Tall, quiet, and secretive, this Finn is nothing like the brother she grew up with. He keeps taking late-night phone calls and losing his new expensive gifts, and he doesn’t seem to remember any of their inside jokes or secrets.

As Skye tries to make sense of it all through the lens of her old Polaroid camera, she starts to wonder: Could this Finn be someone else entirely? And if everyone else has changed, does it mean that Skye has to change too?

The Shape of Lost Things is a heartfelt and emotional middle-grade novel about grappling with grief and the constant changes of growing up. Skye, our main character feels empty when her brother and father disappear leaving her and her mom behind. When her brother returns years later, she struggles to recognize her brother as it seems like everything about him has changed. Instead of feeling like her brother has come back home, she feels as if a stranger is in his place. As she tries to reconnect with her brother and new family dynamic, her friendships at her school also aren’t quite the same. Skye must weave through multiple obstacles while trying to grasp her “new life.”

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That concludes this month’s batch of reading recommendations! What stories about family do you recommend or enjoy? Comment your recommendations below.