Football is the central metaphor for how a Korean family confronts
life, death, and assimilation in this gritty and moving novel by
Lee (Saying Goodbye, 1994, etc.). Leaving behind a successful
grocery store in Los Angeles, the Kims move to Minnesota to rescue
the store owned by the father's no-good, drug-dealing brother,
Bong. Readers will identify the laconic and pained narrator, Chan,
and his twin sister, Young, as different from each other as their
former city's cultural diversity is from the relative homogeneity
of their new small town. The family encounters prejudice from
hostile provincials, as well as a welcome from their open-hearted
landlady, Mrs. Knutson. Lee creates a tangible sense of what it
means to work hard: The Kims struggle to make their new store
succeed, going without furniture and embracing Minnesota hotdish.
Tragedy comes when Young is killed in a car accident; reeling from
the loss, Chan confronts the xenophobic bullies on the football
team and reaches an understanding with his old-world father. Both
points could have been reached without the death of Young, which
seems a forced, unnecessary, and easy plot development. Lee's
talent for dramatically depicting the pain and tragedy in living,
for showing that every day is a battle, is subordinated by the
facile scenes surrounding Young's death. Yet even if the lessons
are not as precisely realized as those in Lee's previous books,
this is still a strong and intelligent novel. (Kirkus Reviews)
Chan Kim has never felt like an outsider in his life. That is, not until his family moves from L.A. to a tiny town in Minnesota--Land of 10,000 Lakes--and probably 10,000 hicks,too. The Kims are the only Asian family in town, and when Chan and his twin sister, Young, attend high school, it's a blond-haired, blue-eyed whiteout.
Chan throws himself into the only game in town--football--and the necessary roughness required to make a player. On the field it means "justifiable violence," but as Chan is about to discover, off the field it's a whole different ballgame . . .Chan Jung Kim has always been popular. But that was when he lived in L.A. and was the star of his soccer team. Now his family’s moved—to a tiny town in Minnesota, where football’s the name of the game and nobody has ever seen an Asian American family before. Desperate to fit in, Chan throws himself into the game—but he feels like an outsider. For the first time in his life, he finds himself thinking about what it really means to be Korean—and what is really important. By turns gripping, painful, funny, and illuminating, Necessary Roughness introduces a major new talent and a fresh young voice to the Harper list.
1997 Best Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
1998 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)Chan Jung Kim has always been popular. But that was when he lived in L.A. and was the star of his soccer team. Now his family’s moved—to a tiny town in Minnesota, where football’s the name of the game and nobody has ever seen an Asian American family before. Desperate to fit in, Chan throws himself into the game—but he feels like an outsider. For the first time in his life, he finds himself thinking about what it really means to be Korean—and what is really important. By turns gripping, painful, funny, and illuminating, Necessary Roughness introduces a major new talent and a fresh young voice to the Harper list.
1997 Best Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
1998 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)
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