If It Hadn't Been for Yoon Jun

By Marie G. Lee

Book Overview

Adopted as a baby, 12-year-old Alice Larsen is of Korean heritage but feels 100% American. Then Yoon Jun, a Korean immigrant, moves to her small Minnesota town, and Alice's parents start pressuring her to make friends with the strange new boy as a way to get in touch with her heritage. Alice resists--what would her friends think? Anyway, she's American. But when she and Yoon Jun are assigned to work together on a school project, she learns about KoreaIand about doing the right thing.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380723476
• ISBN13: 9780380723478
• Release Date: June 1995
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 134 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.2" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Good book!

It was good book! It can be useful when you're bored and nothing to do!

If it hadn't been for yoon jun

If it hadn't been for Yoon JunThe Title of this book is If It Hadn't Been for Yon Jun, it's based in a boy that came from Korea and that his family doesn't know anybody in the United States because it's their first time in the United States. When they went to church they meet Alice's parents and they started talking, Alice's parents invited them for dinner, so they told Alice that they had invited them for dinner and Alice said it was ok with her and the next day Alice went to school and she saw that there was a new kid at school, his name was Yoon Jun he was always looking at her, Alice friends told her that he liked her because he was always looking at her, she went home and when she got home her parents told her that they knew what the name of the boy was Alice says happy what is his name and her parents say Yoon Jun, Alice says that he cant come over for dinner because he goes to her school, and then Alice told them that he does at lunch is stare at her and Alice told them that he is a nerd and that she doesn't want him over for dinner and her mom told her that she is going to talk to her dad and that she is going to she what she can do and see if she can cancel the dinner. I liked this book because it helped me to treat other people the same not because they are from other countries and I figured out that if I hang out with other kids from other countries they might actually be pretty fun to be with.

What I liked about this book

I read this book for my church's Korean Culture class. I liked the book because it's about making new friends. This book is about a girl named Alice and a boy named Yoon Jun, who are both Korean, but the girl has trouble making friends with the boy.I liked the characters, Alice and Yoon Jun, for example, Alice was once mad at Yoon Jun but later said sorry and they made up. I give thumbs up to this book.The book impressed me because some of the friends stand up for one another. I think my teacher would like this book because she loves to learn the cultures of other people. This book review was done by Praise Kang, age 8.

GREAT book for anyone with adopted kids

IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR YOON JUN is an engaging read for kids, while at the same time, it provides reassurance for kids who are adopted. It tackles touchy subjects w/humor and warmth. A good way to start a serious discussion.

on recommended reading list

I started reading this book bec. it was on a recommended reading list--now I've bought copies for nieces and nephews. It's a really great book about identity, making snap judgements, and how hard it is to fit in, even for people who seem popular.