Young-hee and the Pullocho | TheBookSeekers

Young-hee and the Pullocho


School year: Lower 6th, Upper 6th, Year 10, Year 11, Year 8, Year 9

No. of pages 256

Published: 2015

Great for age 12-18 years

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Set in Korea, this multicultural, middle-reader novel is the riveting story of a magical realm, a little girl, her brother and a daring rescue.So annoyingIn Young-hee's life everything feels wrong. It seemed like only yesterday that her world was just as it should be. But now her dad is gone, her mom is overextended, and Young-hee is forced to move back to Seoul--and not a nice part of Seoul, either. To make matters worse, the girls at her new school are nasty, and her little brother Bum is an insufferable, attention-hogging pain.Then Young-hee stumbles into a magical world, where the fairy stories of her childhood are real and all the frustrations of her everyday life fade away--until Bum is kidnapped, and the only way Young-hee can save him is by finding the magical pullocho plant. Soon, she is plunged into an epic quest, encountering dragons and fairies and facing decisions that affect not only Bum, but the fate of an entire world.In Young-hee and the Pullocho, debut novelist Mark James Russell puts a Korean spin on an evergreen fantasy trope, interweaving Korean folktales with the story of a young girl who, without realizing it, is in search of herself. Readers of all ages will want to join Young-hee as she journeys from the dingiest part of Seoul to enchanted lands that prove more beautiful--and more dangerous--than she ever could have imagined.

 

 

This book is aimed at children at US 7th grade-12th grade.

This book has been graded for interest at 12-18 years.

There are 256 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2015 by Tuttle Publishing .

Mark James Russell is a Canadian journalist and writer who has been living in Korea since 1996. He has written extensively about Korean entertainment and culture for newspapers and magazines. He is the author of K-Pop Now! (Tuttle Publishing 2014).

 

"Author Mark James Russell does an incredible job with descriptive language; readers will want to reread the descriptions of the landscape, characters and events simply so they can enjoy the sentences a second time." --KidsReads blog

 

"We all need to escape from our grey existence every now and then, and this book is a very enjoyable way of doing it." --Philip Gowman, London Korean Links

 

"For Young-hee, 13, nothing about her family's return to Seoul after five years in Canada has been pleasant. When she discovers a hidden door to a vibrant magical land, it's a welcome escape from her life's depressing realities. Young-hee's younger brother accompanies her on her second trip through the portal, and during that trip, he falls for a trap set by a crafty dokkaebi (goblin). So Young-hee makes a desperate deal with the dokkaebi: She will go on a journey to find a pullocho, a rare magical plant, and exchange it for her brother's freedom so they can both return home. Russell enriches his debut novel with many details borrowed from Korean folk tales. Fans of stories within stories will enjoy the tales included here(...)" --Kirkus

 

"Her journey is fantastic and full of rich mythological creatures that come to vivid life under Russell's pen...each chapter ends with a little story, a folktale that is often elaborated upon or retold or alluded to in some way in the narrative itself. This technique gives texture to the narrative and adds a richness to the detail. It also connects Young-Hee's story to the stories that are already in existence. A very neat way to make readers interested in folklore." --The Book Wars blog

 

"A likable, modern heroine, Young-hee deals with challenges that, while sometimes dreamlike, bring about definite changes in her viewpoint. This quick-paced adventure story is one of the few middle-grade novels available here that reflect Korean culture and lore." --Booklist

 

"I definitely recommend this book for young adult readers (middle school and above I would think) and adults, especially those who like fantasy and/or fairy tales. It's entertaining, full of fun fairy/folk tales, colourful characters --both good and bad (and some who are neither or both) -- and a story that comes alive because of the author's fabulously descriptive writing. I giggled, I got annoyed, and I cried...but more importantly, I was engaged in and with the story..." --ATK Magazine

 

"The book cleverly intersperses the main plot with classically presented Korean folktales, emphasizing the mythical nature of the characters and introducing them without TOO much clunky explanation." --The Korea Herald

 

"...the ending of this book was extremely well written. There is a plot twist, that is both surprising and easily explained; small clues for it are scattered throughout the book. [...] Overall, Young-hee and the Pullocho could be best described as a Korean cross between The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and the Percy Jackson series." --Kids' BookBuzz blog