I'm excited to recommend this middle-grade novel to tweens at my library!

Yumi and her big sister, Minji, are spending the summer in Seoul with their grandfather. Since Yumi has been feeling ignored by her sister, she thinks the summer will be an opportunity for them to reconnect, but when they get to Seoul, all Minji wants to do is go shopping with their cousins, and Yumi feels more ignored than ever. Then Yumi finds a magic paintbrush and a magical new friend.... but when her new friend starts using magic to help Yumi get her revenge on Minji, things start to go terribly wrong.

I loved the mix of Korean mythology/history/culture and a very relatable sibling storyline. I think a lot of siblings will connect to Yumi and Minji's changing relationship. I would highly recommend adding this book to a middle-grade library collection.

I really enjoyed this book and I think young readers will too. I loved that the reader was discovering Seoul along with Yumi. The Korean mythological creatures were fascinating to learn about as well. There’s so much in this story for middle grade readers to enjoy. Highly recommend.

Loved the relationship between the MC and her grandfather, and the insights into korean culture and mythology. A sweet magical story that i can imagine a LOT of kids loving.

Love this combination of intergenerational family dynamics and magic, and the bond between Yumi and her grandfather is especially heartfelt. Young readers at my library will love this book!

I recieved a free eARC of this book. Thank you for the opportunity to read it,

Yumi is excited to spend summer vacation with her extended family in Seoul, and to spend more time with her sister Minji, but Minji wants to spend the time with her cousins and regularly leaves Yumi out. While Yumi is enjoying learning ink painting and spending time with her grandfather, she feels alone...until she finds a magic paintbrush which summons "Dodo", a character straight out of Korean mythology.

This is a fun book which will appeal to kids who enjoy mythology infused stories such as Rick Riordan's books. I enjoyed the Korean culture woven throughout, without feeling forced. With Yumi, we are able to explore Seoul and learn about her heritage...and with her, watch as she learns that legends often can get pretty dark and scary. The outcome is predictable, but that doesn't detract from the story.

This is an enjoyable book that definitely deserves a place on school and library shelves.

This middle grade novel tells the story of Yumi, a 12 year old girl going on a trip from the US to Soeul with her older sister to visit family. While there she discovers a special paint brush that takes her on a magical adventure. Along the way readers are introduced to elements of Korean culture, especially mythological creatures. There are just under 300 pages and several short chapters with a nice, well-spaced font that is fairly easy to comprehend. There are no pictures other than in the chapter titles, so this is written for older middle grade readers who are ready to comprehend without visuals. I would recommend this book for readers in grades 5-9, though there is nothing that slightly younger readers should be prevented from reading. I think this book would make an excellent addition to my classroom library. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this great book.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. Yumi and her sister are going to South Korea to visit their grandfather,cousins along with aunts and uncles for the summer. Yumi finds a magical paint brush and gets more than she bargains for.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC.

A Brush with Magic is a wonderful story. It combines real life and fantasy in Yumi and Minji's first trip to Korea.

I loved Yumi and really felt for her throughout the book. Her emotions and actions were those of a kid too young to understand everything but who wants to. I remember feeling like that (sometimes I still do!), and I think she's so cute.

Korea was described gorgeously - the food, the people, and the architecture. I loved seeing how the old had combined with the new as Yumi explored. Bucket list trip to Seoul, anyone?

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and it was a delight to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this arc. This was such a fun read! I cannot wait to recommend this book to the children at the library!

A Brush with Magic is a fun, sweet middle grades fantasy- probably ideal for 5th/6th graders.

It’s summer break, and Yumi is excited to spend time with her older sister (Minji) as they visit their grandfather and explore Korea. Minji quickly ditches Yumi for some older cousins, and Yumi feels left out. Instead, Yumi spends meaningful time with her grandfather, and they share a love of art. As they paint, her grandfather also shares Korean fairy tales with her.

Yumi accidentally summons a dokkaebi from a magical paintbrush, and she finally has a friend to hang out with. As they explore the area and play pranks on others, Yumi has to face her own moral compass, the source of her frustrations, and her own priorities on her summer break trip and family connections.

There are fun connections to folklore (and great dialogue about fairy tales), and this book is a great representation of the hero’s journey for a younger audience. I think Yumi will be a relatable character for many early middle grade audience (especially younger siblings!) I particularly love her relationship with her grandfather. Overall, though, I’d definitely add this to my classroom library and present it as an option during our fantasy unit.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!