Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook, Ko Hyung-Ju, Ryan Estrada
on May 19, 2020
ISBN: 194582042X
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Graphic Novel
Goodreads

This graphic novel tackles a piece of South Korea’s modern history. Set in 1983, under a military regime that uses censorship and torture as forms of control. This book is a compilation of real-life student experiences blended into one and told through the eyes of a new college student, Kim Hyun Sook. On Hyun Sook’s first day at university, she must walk through a protest to get to class and she encounters a protest for the first time. As a literature major, Hyun Sook joins a book club, only to find out it is a banned book club and that she could go to jail and lose her scholarship if the club is discovered. The rest of the story follows Hyun Sook’s awakening from a timid observer to an active participant in the political struggle for democracy in South Korea. Many teen readers will respond to the relevancy of this graphic novel given the parallels to the Black Lives Matter protests in our current society. The art is done in black and white sequential panels. This book is a solid addition to any young adult graphic novel collection. Recommended for grades 7 and up. 

Elizabeth Andersen, Librarian, Westbrook High School