What's Eating Jackie Oh? by Patricia Park

The fun of cooking competition contrasted powerfully with discrimination against Asians, including the expectation of academic excellence, being “the best” because good isn’t good enough. I liked Jackie more and more as she learned to like herself more, stand up for herself, expect more for herself, and open herself to friendship, joy, and success on her own terms, which includes cooking the best food she can, combining many influences and using what’s available — recipes included, though I’d prefer a real restaurant. ;-)
Communication with family and friends is so crucial.
The reminder of incidents of violent attacks on Asians during COVID highlight a real problem and a need for more protection for all vulnerable people. We all need and deserve security.

This book is a very engaging story of both the complexities of being a teen and an Asian American through the COVID era. It speaks of the strict standards set upon them and the otherness they have felt, even in an urban melting pot like NYC. Confronting generational trauma is evident throughout the book, right up there with the food. Jackie's love of food is both a blessing and a curse in her life and reading about her navigating it to tackle a once in a lifetime opportunity to compete on TV made it hard for me to put down.
I did feel like the ending could have given a glimpse into what happened to her after the competition once she was done, but I love that it ended with a message. It was more real and true to life and showed that Jackie's story isn't over and we as readers get to imagine where she is now.

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Jackie Oh is a Korean American teen whose passion is cooking. Every Friday she watches Burn Off! with her grandparents and the three of them recreate the challenges every week. When the producers of Burn Off! decide to make a teen version of the show, Jackie can’t resist skipping school and auditioning for the show. Even though her parents don’t know or understand her passion for cooking.
I really enjoyed this book! I loved the Burn Off kitchens and the descriptions of challenges and chats between producers.
I also enjoyed how the ending was written, I feel that most books similar to this go a certain direction and this one didn’t, which was a breath of fresh air.
My only complaint was that the book always made me hungry because the food descriptions were just that good.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Books for Young Readers for an eARC of this book.

This is an endearing middle grade novel which explores the struggles of finding one’s own voice while navigating through societal as well as family expectations. High schooler Jackie Oh comes from a family (and culture) where the only goal in life is to get good grades, attend an Ivy League university, and rise to the top of one’s chosen profession. There is only one problem. Jackie’s true passion is cooking and she has a “C” in history class, which in her family is akin to failing. When she receives an invitation to audition for a teen version of a popular cooking show, Jackie is finally able to pursue her passion. Along the way she shows her family that following one’s passion is a much better definition of success than a six figure income. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about Jackie Oh who dreamed of becoming a chef. She works at her grandparents’ deli after school and practices. Jackie’s parents want her to go to an ivy league college. Her brother is in prison, and Jackie and her parents haven’t heard from him. She only writes letters to him. Jackie became a teen contestant in her favorite cooking show.

The book so far is good. I like how the way Jackie wants to pursue her dreams. Also, how her grandparents teach her how to cook and worked at the deli.

Thanks to the publishers at Random House Children’s and NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to read this book and do a review.

I LOVED this book! I'd previously read other novels but Patricia Park that I also had loved so am not surprised at how good this was. I loved Jackie's journey from questioning herself and her place in the world to knowing who she is and embracing her roots and culture. I would have loved to see what Jackie does after Burn Off beyond where this book left off but am thrilled with Jackie's evolution throughout. Read this if you are a huge fan of cooking competitions, food, AAPI, or all of the above! 1000/10!!!!

What’s eating Jackie Oh? By Patricia Park

Jackie is the sometimes-rebellious daughter of two high powered Korean American New York City parents – one a lawyer vying for partnership (her mom), and her dad who works in business and finance. Secretly her dream is to pursue her own path where she would use her mad kitchen skills to win a national competition and go on to a rewarding culinary career - most definitely not the type of career her parents have in mind for her.

The tensions arising from this clash of opinions is eased somewhat by her loving grandparents who run a very busy Korean American restaurant where Jackie often is found helping out, and her off and on again friend KT, who has her own issues that complicate matters.
Running like a dark river underneath all of this is what her older brother is going through. Well before the events of the book, Justin had made some bad life choices that left a major scar on his relationship with the parents. And then there’s that cute boy who is taking over deliveries of produce to the grandparents’ restaurant. Does he dislike her? Like her?

It all adds up to an escalating series of opportunities for Jackie when she is chosen to compete in a national teen chef contest. I was flying through the pages, really enjoying the expertly crafted mounting tension leavened by humor and (of course) some mouth watering descriptions of the dishes Jackie and her fellow competitors whip up.

And then… sadly… it failed to stick the landing. A major plot twist is produced at the 11th hour, but there is no personal engagement by Jackie and her family – no face to face discussion with friends, no internal soul searching, no hint of how this is going to affect Jackie. I was truly sorry that it ended so abruptly and at such a remove, choosing to lean on the device of a series of electronic messages by friends and strangers to essentially end the book.

Overall I give it a 4 out of 5 stars because of that disappointment – otherwise it would have been 5 stars all the way.

Jackie Oh is a fifteen-year-old Korean-American girl with a passion for cooking and problems with her perfectionist parents.

I really enjoyed seeing her cook at her grandparents' restaurant, and how they watched their favorite cooking show together.

When Jackie gets a chance to try out for a junior version of the show, I felt excited and tense for her. I loved watching her discoveries, mistakes, and the new understandings she came to. This book kept me up late at night. I had to finish it before I could sleep.

There are a lot of interesting formatting choices in the book. My one quibble was with the final chapter.

Over all, I had a great time reading this book.

Jackie has been told all her life that she's got to try harder. That her best isn't good enough. And she's cracking under the pressure. School just doesn't come as easy as her parents want it to. But cooking along side her grandparents at their restaurant has always relaxed her. So when she gets the chance to participate in a real life cooking competition and be judged by real, celebrity chefs... well, it's a no brainer.

Now she just has to prove it. To the world. To her friends and family. Mostly, she has to prove it to herself.

This book is about more than cooking. It's about appreciating food, tradition, family, and following your dreams when no one else believes in you. How sometimes you get so caught up in yourself you forget to look around you. But by opening up, you can learn and grow in so many ways.

I really, really enjoyed this book. And not just because of the depictions of food/cooking! (But, yum!) It was my first time reading the author, but after this I will definitely be checking out what else they have out there!

One of the meatiest (and most unapologetically fresh) young adult novels I've read in ages. As much a love letter to the NYC food scene as it a brutally honest look at the pressures of being a 'model minority.' Stories like Jackie's are the ones I wish society had back when I was 15. But god, how fortunate we are to have them now.

Ebook received for free through NetGalley

When I started reading this I saw the teen age mentioned on the first page I worried I shouldn’t have requested it. Then I was blown away. It’s amazing and I fell in love with the characters and storyline. So glad I came across it!

All Jackie Oh wants to do is cook, all day every day, but her parents are pushing her to get into an Ivy League college and become a doctor or attorney. When she meets the producer of a cooking show she loves and gets invited to audition for it, everything else goes out the window. She ignores being grounded and skips a final to make the audition. Her parents are not amused, but they finally allow her to complete the audition and if she lands a spot, she still has to convince them to let her take the next step. It was a great read for all ages from teens to seniors. It has something for everyone and reminded me that everyone has to take a stand for what they really want at some point in their lives. Can she really win? It's stiff competition, and she learns things she never knew about cooking, and she knows a lot after working in her uncle's restaurant. She's all in and in it to win it, but so are the other contestants. Loved it.

A powerful and moving exploration of Korean American culture. Character driven and food-centric. The casual, carefree tone creates an instant camaraderie between the main character and the reader. I was thoroughly engaged throughout and so invested in Jackie Oh's story that I couldn't put this book down.

Filled with so much relevant subtext. This book is a reminder of the inaccuracy of stereotypes. It is a plea to stop AAPI hate crimes. It is a lesson on our prison systems. And it is also a celebration of cultural diversity, a reminder to follow your passions, and a nod towards the bravery of letting your walls down—letting people see the real you, letting them help when you're in need of help.

A beautiful and educational exploration of self and community. Enlightening, up-lifting, and a real tear-jerker of a read.

Very cute book with a real, great message and I found the main character delightfully real. Strong family values and good, healthy friendship dynamics.

If you love watching cooking competition shows, you'll love What's Eating Jackie Oh. It has the excitement and all kinds of nods to the shenanigans that happen in these shows.

It also has so much depth. I really loved Jackie and her family. All of the dynamics and conflicts and growth felt very believable. I also enjoyed how the novel tackled the issue of racism in a way that didn't feel preachy. It was part of the story because it would be part of Jackie's experience.

This is labeled as a YA book but I'd recommend it to students as young as sixth grade.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's for this ARC.

Though there were times I genuinely wanted to dislike this one (with complete and valid criticisms), I found, in the end, that I couldn't. It's charming, and a little sad, and sometimes triumphant, and, I think, a little bit like life.

This is such an amazing book. Jackie deals with difficult family dynamics, over-bearing parents, difficult friendships, and so much more, all while trying to win a cooking show. You'll fall in love with the characters and want the book to keep on going.

I inhaled this book! To be honest, for a youth librarian, I don't read nearly enough YA--I think that I usually feel that YA can be too angsty and heavy, and while I think it's super important when you're that age to have access to those stories, as an adult, I find myself feeling more fatigued by it than anything.
This book had a lot to it, and though it dealt with lots of serious topics, I found the tone to be primarily light and easy to read in one go. And it had one of my favorite tropes--reality TV! It's strange, because I'm not a reality TV fan in real life, but there's just something about reading about it from a contestant's perspective that I can't get enough of.
Now...while I did love and inhale this one, I did think there was kind of a lot going on. We talk about AAPI hate, Covid, incarceration, tough family dynamics, first/second/third gen families, friendship obstacles, a little romance, and so on....I didn't feel like everything got the attention it deserved because of this. I honestly think there should've been EITHER the friendship drama or the romance component--I didn't feel very invested in either because they felt like afterthoughts.
I also thought the ending was pretty stilted. While I figured it wouldn't be a happy ending with a bow on top, for me, it all just...finished. And I felt really no resolution for the things I actually cared about in the book. I also didn't love that it ended with one of those "comment section"/epistolary styles where there were a BUNCH of social media comments--some were relevant to the plot, and others were to showcase the differing support/hate of minorities. Which is important to the story, but I also really didn't love that plot things had to be "dug up." As an AAPI first-gen, it's already sort of exhausting to see this hate in every day life--I don't need to read dozens of fake online comments to know that it exists.
Even with these issues, I did really enjoy this book and found it to be a quick read.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc. I really enjoyed this book. I love a good cooking competition and wish we had the ability to transport food from page to table already though!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So I need to be 100% upfront here. I am such a sucker for NYC localized media. I will probably always be a little salty about not going to Townsend Harris or Brooklyn Latin, but my own school did have me on the Ivy grind with the highest GPA and endless APs and clubs and professional goals. Jackie Oh is an incredibly relatable character for any overachiving highschooler who thinks that a 92% is barely medicore. I see you, I am you, and I encourage you to sleep more than four hours a night. This book nailed the conversation about how the pandemic hit so many beloved small resturants in the city (RIP Jay & Lloyd's on Ave U), the chaos of the city, and the particularly unique fusions that come from so many people from all over the world making their homes here.

I can't talk about this book without talking about the rise in AAPI hate and racism from COVID. Ever character is touched by racial bias, from the judges always pushing Jackie to go in the expected ethnic direction with her food to her parent's challenges at work to be recognized for their sacrifice to KT trying her absolute best to distinguish herself as a college applicant in a system meant to make her outcompete her own community. Without spoilers, there is so much more that Park weaves into the narrative with finesse.

The story was well paced, with the show's confessionals and recipes adding to the reading experience intead of confusing the reader. I also loved that after a korean phrase was introduced and translated, it was able to just be on its own for future use. Park isn't excluding non-Korean readers, she is teaching us and expecting that we are smart enough to learn.