I love cooking, I love cooking/baking shows, and I love YA books, and this is a perfect combination of all those things. Heartfelt and enjoyable, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA books, and you'll especially enjoy it if you like cooking and cultural aspects like the ones present in the book. A great book for representation too, that goes without saying.

What's Eating Jackie Oh? is a YA novel about a Korean American teenager who just wants to be in charge of her own future. Her Ivy League professional parents have always pushed Jackie and her brother towards perfection, but look at where that has gone. Her brother has turned to a life of crime and Jackie wants a life as a chef. Jackie works at her grandparents’ Midtown Manhattan deli after school, letting the stress of trying to be the perfect daughter melt away. When Jackie gets the opportunity of a lifetime, will she do anything that it takes to make it happen?

Teenage readers will be able to relate to Jackie, as she suffers from trying to have her own identity despite outside pressures. The cooking show aspect of the book is not really realistic, but it is fun to dream about being chosen for a competition show. The biggest problem that I have with the book is that everything comes together too easy, especially considering how much that would have to transpire to make it all fall into place. Overall, this is a good book for the target audience and I would recommend What's Eating Jackie Oh? to other readers.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to review this book was entirely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to be able to read and review this book!

This is a great YA novel!

This was a cute YA novel of a Korean American girl Jackie Oh that is following in her own path to become a chef! Her parents are not supportive of her dreams but she tries out the cooking competition where it tests Jackie Oh’s limits and her relationship with her parents as well as issue of her brother serving time in Rikers! It was quirky and fun and loved the competition! My only complaint is that the ending seemed rushed because of the brother situation didn’t get flushed out a little more for it to be a full circle moment unless that was the goal from jump was to show the continuation of them trying to get to a better place!

Thanks to Ms. Patricia Park, and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Jackie Oh is a normal high school teen just trying to survive to graduation. Although her parents have extremely high academic expectations for Jackie, her passion is more into cooking, than academics.

This is a sweet, funny, beautiful YA novel that follows a teen girl and her passion for cooking while trying to convince her traditional parents that she was born to cook!

Very very very very fun little work. I felt that the characterization was sometimes a little bit weak, but in general cool little YA

I liked most of this book! It was a quick read, and though it dealt with a dark subject (AAPI hate and violence,) the cooking aspect was really fun. I’m a big fan of cooking shows, so I enjoyed reading a book based around one. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was the ending. It was very abrupt, and didn’t feel very complete.

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC and amazing book! What’s Eating Jackie Oh? Is a heartfelt feeling novel that dives into the pressures of cultural expectations, and she wants the need to change between recipes The artwork and illustrations on the cover capture Jackie’s journey, adding visual depth to her culinary dreams. I agree and recommend this book to anyone who loves stories about personal growth, ambition, and the complexities of balancing family tradition with individual desires. The artwork perfectly complements Jackie’s journey as she competes on the teen cooking show Burn Off—a world full of snarky judges, microaggressions, and her struggles.

This is a cute coming of age YA that takes place on a reality cooking show. All Jackie wants to do is cook but she finds herself dealing with all the behind the scenes drama. Thank you netgalley

This was a really sweet YA novel with a reality cooking show element. I loved the perspective from a Korean American.

Jackie Oh’s parents are overachievers—former straight A students at Ivy League schools who have high-paying jobs in law and private equity. Naturally, they expect Jackie to follow in their footsteps, attending hagwon in the afternoons, earning straight As at her private school so she can head to the Ivy League, and landing her own corporate job.

Jackie, however, is not interested in this path. She spends every free moment she has working at her grandparents’ New York deli Melty’s or watching Burn Off! with them and coming up with their own creative versions of the cooking show’s challenges.

When Jackie skips her world history final to audition for a teen version of Burn Off!, her parents are, let’s just say, not happy. But recognizing that a reality TV win could be the stuff of college application essays, they grudgingly allow her to head to LA to compete, where Jackie’s pitted against food influencers, child TV stars, and teens who are well-versed in the latest culinary trends.

We adored Jackie—her voice is an utter delight—and while there’s plenty of escapist fun behind the camera of a cooking reality show, there are also deeper threads. Jackie has the opportunity to reflect on her relationships with her family and friends as well as her insecurities and passions, understanding herself (and others) much more fully. And Park uses the narrative to explore important issues of Asian-American hate and the damage the model minority myth can cause, issues that are too infrequently discussed in the public arena yet all-too-real for many of our students.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Children’s, and Crown Books for Young Readers for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are our own.

*Review will be posted at https://threeheads.works/category/blog/ya-books/ on October 30, 2024

What's Eating Jackie O? focuses on a Korean American sophomore at Bronx Science in NYC, who works at her grandparents' restaurant "Melty's" and dreams of becoming a professional chef. When Jackie is scouted there for a competitive teen cooking show, "Burn Off," she is thrilled. Dodging her parents' ivy league dreams for her and making it through the initial cookoffs, she finds more obstacles ahead. The judges expect her to create Korean dishes, whereas she prefers to combine cuisines. She must also navigate subtle layers of microaggressions against minorities, shame and sorrow over her older brother's imprisonment, and a romantic attraction to a fellow competitor, as she competes for the opportunity to realize her unconventional dreams. Recipes are included!

Super cute YA coming of age story that is also a behind the scenes of reality tv story and a look into racial issues. I adored this story so very much. Thank you Netgalley for the arc!

What's Eating Jackie Oh? Is a beautiful, funny, emotional story of a Korean American teen who wants nothing more than to cook. She desires to be a chef but her strict traditional, "ivy league" Korean parents are not interested in that for Jackie's future.

Jackie spends her time at school, a job at her grandparents deli, studying French and well cooking in lieu of homework. She comes across an opportunity to cook on a reality TV competition show for teen cooks. Jackie learns about the true realities of show business and finds herself just wanting to cook. Jackie's parents find themselves trying to accept their daughters passion amidst of the TV contest.

Read this sweet, funny, beautiful YA novel that follows a teen girl and her passion for cooking while trying to convince her traditional parents that she was born to cook!

This was a fun read and I always love a book with recipes and food. This was a great palette cleanser for me. Cannot wait to read more from this Author.

Ughhh!! This reminds me so much of Elizabeth Acevedo but in a good way! Thus book had me laughing, crying, and cheering for Jackie all in one sitting. I especially loved her grandparents too!! Patricia Park writes the best books and handles sensitive topics with humor and grace.

I really enjoyed this YA novel about a Korean American high schooler, “Jackie Oh”, who is more obsessed with cooking than academically over-achieving. Which does not sit well with her ivy-league educated workaholic and demanding parents. Fortunately Jackie Oh has loving grandparents to fill the emotional void and provide a soft, culinary landing at their sandwich shop.
YA novels provide literary relief from gratuitous sex, language, violence and general deviance that are selling points in current entertainment. Even so, What’s Eating Jackie Oh? Provides plenty of opportunity to experience economic and educational bias, cultural prejudices, and other social anomalies, which enables this tasty story to have some real texture.
I found the exploration of Korean and asian-American culture and POV to be very educational, and the family and friend interaction was deep and emotional,, often touching.
I devoured this book, I found it entertaining and engrossing, however I did feel that it ended somewhat abruptly - perhaps there will be a sequel?

I liked how this story was really well paced and the author did a good job at showing the difference in how parents approach raising their kids especially when the grandparents are involved. I did love the cooking aspect within this story and I liked how the author would name the chapters so it made easy to follow the plot of the story. I will say that I do think it is such a quick read so I’m grateful that I was able to read the story on NetGalley rather than buying it.

My Heart! All the feels whilst reading Patricia Park’s YA Novel, WHAT’S EATING JACKIE OH?, I laughed and cried—Highly Recommend!

‘Jackie Oh is done being your model minority.’

‘She’s tired of perfect GPAs, PSATs, SATs, all of it. Jackie longs to become a professional chef. But her Korean American parents are Ivy League corporate workaholics who would never understand her dream. Just ask her brother, Justin, who hasn’t heard from them since he was sent to Rikers Island.’

Reading Age: 12 – 17
Grade Level: 7 – 9

Thank you, NetGalley and Crown Books (Random House Children’s Books), for providing me with an eBook of WHAT’S EATING JACKIE OH? at the request of an honest review.

I loved this sweet, romance work. I was cheering for Jackie Oh!! I would definitely recommend this book.