I had no idea this was a re-release of a book written in the early '90s. I actually just thought it was refreshing for it to be set in a time when teenagers didn't have cell phones and social media...you know, like when I was a teenager!
But actually when I got to the end of the book, there was an author's note talking about the re-release. And I that made me like the book even more.
It is a simple story. A simple plot. But so much heart. The characters are beautifully portrayed and very realistically. One of my best friends is Asian, though not Korean, and it spoke to many situations that she has described to me from her own life as a Asian American woman. It is a very timely re-release, as so many people are wanting and enjoying reading about other cultures than there own. But also for the Asian American readers. I love how much more diverse publishing is becoming and how many readers are finally seeing characters like themselves on the page more regularly.

I voluntarily listened and reviewed an advanced copy of this audiobook. It is well written. It was a great listening experience. The author did a fantastic job writing this book. The narrator did a wonderful job reading this book. The characters are enjoyable. The pacing of this story is great. You are not just listening, to this book you are experiencing this book. I can't wait to read more books by Marie Myung-Ok Lee. I can't wait to listen to more books narrated by Jaine Ye. I highly recommend listening to this audiobook, it is in stores now for $19.99 (USD).

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. It has been published in December 2020.

"Finding My Voice" by Marie Myung-Ok Lee is the timeless coming of age story of Ellen Sung, a seventeen-year-old Korean American girl who attends an all-white high school in Arkin, Minnesota.
It was first published in print in 1992 and is now being reissued as an audiobook without any edits.
I must say I enjoyed this novel even more than I was expecting: it has a deliciously authentic feeling and it definitely stands the test of time.
The protagonist is extremely relatable, even though I don't belong to an ethnic minority myself, because this story speaks to the heart of anybody who's ever felt different for any reason at all, anybody who went through high school wishing they were more popular or struggled to meet parental expectations and to live up to an older sibling's unattainable achievements.
The plot is perfectly believable: it focuses on exams, sports, crushes... nothing so extraordinary that couldn't have happened to anybody else in the same situation.
The only thing I didn't appreciate was the presence of a few body-shaming remarks.
The narrator has a very pleasant voice, which suits the first-person narration protagonist perfectly.
Overall, I can definitely recommend this novel.

Finding My Voice had been originally published in '92 and was reissued this December.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Seventeen-year-old Ellen Sung just wants to be like everyone else at her all-white school. But the racist bullies of Arkin, Minnesota, will never let her forget that she’s different—the youngest member of the only Korean-American family in town.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Through the book, Ellen deals with racist classmates and professors, demanding parents, and the pressure of having to choose a university that will not disappoint her parents which is not very easy.

Although the book is called Finding My Voice, Ellen stood up to her bully just once and I don't feel like she found her voice.

"One day, I think to myself, I will figure out how to please my parents without silencing my own voice."

Ellen's problems are not simple, yet she treats them like they are. A little undeveloped for my taste, but ok.

I get it that she was afraid of standing up for herself against some classmates at the beginning and that she was afraid to complain about a racist professor because she wanted/needed a good grade but she didn't even want to press charges against a girl who broke a bottle on her head because 'that wouldn't change anything'.

Like, girl??? It's more important to stand for yourself against racist comments than to your demanding parents who just want you to go to a good school and be someone who will not be treated like they were.

Anyway, I'm glad she wasn't alone through all of this. She had such nice and supportive friends and the romance between her and Tomper was unexpected and cute. I'm glad that their relationship was more like a 'side plot' and that the problems she dealt with were the main theme.

All in all, I liked Ellen and this book, I just wish that she truly found her voice.

(Also, I listened to the audiobook, and Jaine Ye was the best Ellen we could get)

Finding My Voice - 3.5🌟

* Thanks to @netgalley and publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review *

I was excited to get into this audiobook as soon as I got my hands on it, but I didn't realize how special it was! Apparently, Finding My Voice is considered the OG Own Voices Asian American YA novel, with its first publication in 1992. It is being published for the second time in 2020 and the author decided not to update this edition - which makes it so much more special and authentic in my opinion.

I loved this book. As a white woman, I often found this short novel uncomfortable with the racism against Asian Americans described within its pages. Finding My Voice is a coming of age story of Ellen - a seventeen-year-old girl living is a small Minnesota town in the ONLY Korean-American family. When Ellen falls in love with a white boy from school, their romance evolves, but with many difficulties including abundant racist bullying and family pressure.

I really enjoyed the story in the audiobook format with its excellent narration. There was literally not a single dull moment as it was fast-paced and quite short.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed getting to know Ellen's coming of age story. It felt timeless and universal, and it also deeply touched me. It offered a new perspective on the hardships that Asian American teens like Ellen used to go through in the 90s. Although many years have passed, sadly not much has changed. Therefore, this book is as essential now as it was when it was originally published in 1992. Even though some passages felt dated, the whole reading experience was as enjoyable as one could have hoped. Do yourself a favor and read this young adult novel whenever you get the chance.
Arc kindly provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked getting to read this story, as it was one of the earliest YA contemporaries written by an Asian author, and I loved getting that perspective, and also getting to see how far we've come since then. I wasn't always entirely sure about Ellen and her voice. And I honestly thought Tomper was going to turn out to be a jerk. He was always iffy to me. I liked the way this book addressed some of the racist slurs Ellen had to deal with, as well as how people would assume where she was from and what that meant she was like. Overall, this was a great early YA contemporary, and I appreciate it being brought back into the spotlight, because we need so many more voices like this one.

I really enjoyed this story, but plotwise nothing major happened. However, this story was just so realistic and real, and I think that's also so important and not something we see very often in YA contemporaries. Like, it's not always that something goes majorly wrong in life and then suddenly you found a way to fix it. Sometimes life just goes the way it's "supposed" to be.

Furthermore, the topic of race and living up to the expectations of parents, that was also very much needed. Even when I didn't grow up in an Asian household, I am Asian. So all those racist comments, I felt them and the impact of them. That part definitely was a realistic representation. But also, those expectations that you have to live up to, personally I haven't experienced that, but I've heard and seen it in my environment. Based on that, I'd say that that aspect too was realistic.

I believe this book is a must read for every young adult. The voice in this book (thought it does date itself sometimes) is timeless. And considering the amount of immigrants or 1st gen children in this country and the things they have to deal with in school by their fellow classmates and coworkers rang true in this book. I felt like I was there along-side our main character and could so easily see what the story was showing me. A very moving book.

I really enjoyed it! This was an amazing story about a Korean girl who is graduating from high school soon in a predominantly white town. She is trying to apply to college while dealing with racism, bullying, and strict parents. Her story at times is very heart breaking and emotional because of the bullying and racism she has to experience. I think this was a very well-written book and I highly recommend it to everyone! On a side note, I also think the narrator did a great job.

This was such a great book. From start to finish, I was hooked.
It was a quick, enjoyable and interesting read, dealing with some very real and compelling issues.
I would definitely recommend this book.

I loved this. Sure, at times it felt a little too transparent and cliche but I think that's what makes it so great. I loved Ellen so much and found her bravery in the face of adversity was admirable. She had taken so many racial jabs on the chin and wore it without complaint until enough was enough and people close to her pointed out what was wrong with what they were saying. It was a feel good story and I can't recommend this book enough.

I listened to it as an audiobook and I loved her. I tend to listen to my audiobooks on faster speed and the narrator annunciated well enough that I never got confused or had to re-listen. Excellent.

I’d like to thank the publishers and netgalley for this audio arc in exchange of an honest review.

Where do I start really? This was a wild ride. The narrator was absolutely perfect for Ellen and I hope to hear more of them in other audiobooks in the future.

Secondly, this book was originally published in 1992 (it’s a year older than I am, wow!) and yet the characters still felt like they were as real now as back then. I don’t think much has changed other than maybe there was less sexual content than you’d find in media now.

I will say that at times this novel doesn’t really delve that deeply into the story of Ellen and her relationship even though this is showcased as a romance for the relaunch. I think it’s a shame that the ending requires the things it requires. It felt unfinished. But also this was the 1990s so again, more accurate I suppose? I hope in the sequel we see Tom again. Maybe we will!

Not much of the topics covered aren’t still important but I would said some of the racist stuff is probably different. Certainly much of it I hadn’t heard but I find it hard to believe none of Ellen’s friends ever noticed or heard anyone say anything racist to her.

I do wish Ellen had gotten a gymnastics jacket. And that Masha got her comeuppance but this reads like a memoire so maybe it is. I know the author was born in the same town and her family also fled North Korea. But then maybe only parts of this were non fiction. Either way, while this may not be the most amazing book I’ve ever read it tackles a lot of important ground about racism and bullying, and it was the first novel with an Asian-American protagonist by an Asian-American author. Really this was the one to pave the way so any comparisons are probably influenced by this. It reminds me of only yesterday (the movie). I’m glad I read it and I enjoyed the journey.

a book without much to say other than "racism bad!"

it makes sense this book was written in the '90s. the lack of nuance in the plot, wording, and discussion of issues such as racism and xenophobia felt outdated and confused me until i heard the author's note, which confirmed what i had been thinking: that the book was a way for marie myung-ok lee to process her own feelings about her experiences.

while "finding my voice" told a story that was not being told at the time, there are contemporary coming-of-age books and movies that tell stories about racism, being a child of immigrants, and bullying with more nuance and depth (though perhaps not all at once).

ultimately, while this book is of historic importance, i would recommend other books over this one. the lack of depth in the plot and the lack of character development, plus the rather flat "racism is bad and you too can go to harvard if you are a better person than the people bullying you" messaging put me off of the story. i would rather watch "the half of it" again.

thank you to netgalley and rb media – recorded books for an audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a true young adult book, very relatable to that age group. I hope that many young readers get the chance to enjoy it.

What is most impressive about this book is that it being reissued after 28 years with a new foreward*. I feel like the Young Adult genre has really grown in the last 28 years and so a lot of this book may seem dated but at the time that it came out, it must have been revolutionary! Ellen Sung is a senior at a virtually all white high school in Arkin, Minnesota. Ellen deals with racist classmates, disappointed and demanding Korean immigrant parents, and a tough college decision. Throughout it all, she matures and finds her voice, eventually standing up to her classmates and forming a really supportive group of friends.

Without the foreward, it would hard to place this book in time. Because it came out in 1992 and was set at a similar time, it reads contemporarily which is slightly confusing when reading in 2020. The home phones, plaid get-ups, and paper college applications gave a clue but the timeless themes of a teenager maturing and small town racism (fortunately and unfortunately) made it universal. I found some of Lee's character development pretty simplistic with a lot of her focus on the main character, Ellen. I particularly wanted to see a bit more focus on Ellen's parents. The pacing of the book also felt a little sluggish despite it's short nature.

For the audiobook, the narrator Jaine Ye spoke sooooo slowly that I had to increase the speed to 1.2x (and I'm not someone who usually does that) and it still felt slow to me which I think affected my overall opinion on the book's pacing. Because of her slow cadence, speeding it up actually made her voice sound crackly as if it couldn't go any faster which was annoying as well.

Overall, the story was simple but cute but the audiobook edition wasn't my favorite. The cover is also very pretty!

*Unfortunately, in the advanced reader copy of the audiobook I was given to listen to, the foreward was not recorded yet (or not recorded at all??) and so was not included. I look forward to reading (or listening) to it at a later date.

Thank you to Recorded Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read.