Narrator Joy Osmanski’s voice, accents, and characterizations sweep listeners into this realistic and emotional story of Korean-American sisters Jayne and June Baek. The two, who are in their early 20s, are as different as night and day. June is motivated, confident, and has a job in finance. Jayne is needy, snarky, lives wherever she can, and barely ever makes it to her college classes. They have not spoken in more than a year, but when June is diagnosed with cancer, they try to put aside their differences, only to discover they are both hiding deep, dark secrets. Listeners will appreciate Osmanski’s dramatic flair, which allows listeners to feel the conflicts between the two sisters in this contemporary story of sibling rivalry. L.S.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

★ 01/11/2021

In this reflective, deliberately paced novel told from a younger sibling's point of view, Choi (Permanent Record) examines the relationship between two Korean American sisters. Ambitious older sister June and impulsive Jayne had a love-hate relationship throughout their Texas childhood, and though they both now live in New York City, they've become fully estranged. June is a corporate success, working in hedge funds, while Jayne attends fashion design school and struggles to make it to class. The silence between the two ends, however, when June reveals that she has cancer. For the first time, Jayne, always protected by her older sibling, plays the supportive role, cooking and cleaning June's posh Manhattan apartment. Insightful and intricately constructed, Choi's novel provides a tender look at the sisters' layered bond while addressing aspects of Jayne's experience, including sibling resentment, anxious efforts to navigate relationships, and a long-term eating disorder. If the story takes its time unfolding amid running social commentary, the result is an appreciably personal-feeling narrative about cultural identity, mental and physical health, and siblinghood's complications. Ages 14–up. Agent: Edward Orloff, McCormick Literary. (Mar.)

Sneaks up on you with its insight and poignancy.” —Entertainment Weekly

“[Choi] has a knack for capturing the frenetic, vibrating voices and perspectives of young people as they enter and navigate the world.” —Conde Nast Traveler

* “Insightful and intricately constructed...an appreciably personal-feeling narrative about cultural identity, mental and physical health, and siblinghood's complications.” —Publishers Weekly, starred

“What lingers longest is the resonating, multifaceted story of Jayne and June Baek...[Choi’s] openness—personally, culturally, geographically—gives her narrative a seamless, insider fluency; her writing is consistently assured, her dialogue nimbly tuned, even her pain potently channeled through Jayne's struggles.” —Shelf Awareness Pro

“This poignant story underscores self-sacrifices that prove to be life-sustaining in the name of sisterly love. Intense, raw, textured.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Choi pushes the boundaries of young adult fiction.” —Booklist

Choi has a real gift for creating a character so real and complex that she can crack his psyche open like a melon and pick through all the gnarly seeds.

"Whip-smart, hilarious and poignant...Choi's prose is to be savored....Along with the biting wit and sharp observations, Choi's marvelous novel offers a perceptive exercise on the divide between digital and in-person communication - and how daunting it can be to 'escalate' to that face to face encounter."

"Choi has penned a smart and funny read that is as much about finding your path as it is about falling in love...Choi’s specificity, realistic dialogue, and humor ensure that the personal and romantic journeys feel warm and rewarding, but never saccharine."

"A tender, texting-based teen romance."

"The sweetest book I read this year."

"Readers who enjoyed the unorthodox evolution of romance in Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything (2015) will like this debut novel."

"Emergency Contact is a sharp, funny, and adorable young-adult romance, but it’s also a pretty great story about two people living with differing levels of anxiety...you’ll relate to the characters in this book, and you’ll root for them, too."

Captivating, with quotable one-liners pinging on every page.

"The sweetest book I read this year."

"Readers who enjoyed the unorthodox evolution of romance in Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything (2015) will like this debut novel."

"Blushingly tender and piquant."

★ 05/01/2021

Gr 9 Up—Jayne Baek's carefully curated identity as a young college student studying fashion marketing in New York City begins to crack when her older sister, June (who also lives in the city and from whom she's estranged), shares her cancer diagnosis. The siblings are accustomed to keeping secrets—Jayne lives in a squalorous illegal sublet with a manipulative ex-boyfriend while June is dealing with serious work issues at her hedge fund job—but despite their emotional distance, they remain steadfastly committed to each other. This loyalty is largely due to June's role as a maternal stand-in for Jayne during their childhood when their Korean immigrant parents worked 16-hour days in their family restaurant in San Antonio, TX, as well as later in their teens when their mother inexplicably disappeared only to return weeks later with no explanation. Readers see Jayne's initially superficial musings on style and culture give way to a layered narrative that progressively gains depth. This novel is messy and honest with its nuanced cultural portrayals; Choi makes it clear that people of Korean descent in America are not a monolith. Choi also portrays Jayne's complex struggle with disordered eating with rawness and sensitivity. The evenly paced storytelling is winning and cinematic, particularly with respect to Jayne's developing relationship with childhood friend Patrick. Here, Choi masterfully depicts burgeoning sexuality and the politics of consent with incredible tenderness. VERDICT Readers of color, particularly those with immigrant and first-generation heritages, will strongly relate to themes centering intergenerational dependence and trauma, as well as the complicated experience of navigating multiple cultures. A must-have for teen and new adult collections.—Lalitha Nataraj, California State Univ., San Marcos

Narrator Joy Osmanski’s voice, accents, and characterizations sweep listeners into this realistic and emotional story of Korean-American sisters Jayne and June Baek. The two, who are in their early 20s, are as different as night and day. June is motivated, confident, and has a job in finance. Jayne is needy, snarky, lives wherever she can, and barely ever makes it to her college classes. They have not spoken in more than a year, but when June is diagnosed with cancer, they try to put aside their differences, only to discover they are both hiding deep, dark secrets. Listeners will appreciate Osmanski’s dramatic flair, which allows listeners to feel the conflicts between the two sisters in this contemporary story of sibling rivalry. L.S.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

2021-01-12
A young woman struggles with body image, sexuality, identity issues, and her place in the world.

College student Jayne Baek majors in marketing at an unnamed New York City fashion school and strives to belong to in-crowds even as her first-person narrative voice delivers searing appraisals of artifice and curated personae contrived to attract attention and adoration. Jayne’s perfectionist streak combines with her hunger for acceptance and affirmation, feeding into obsessive, compulsive—and ultimately self-destructive—behaviors, including hookups and rituals of bulimia, all providing only the illusion of control. Accustomed to an heir-and-spare dynamic with her elder sister, June, who got a full scholarship to Columbia and a hedge fund job, Jayne’s existential insecurity crystallizes upon learning the shocking news that June has cancer. Jayne’s fancily attired therapist emphasizes co-pays before referring her to a support group, with the advice that people—not places—will make Jayne feel at home, offering the opportunity for nuanced commentary. Reconnecting with Patrick Jang, an acquaintance from her San Antonio, Texas, childhood who is also of Korean descent, becomes an emotional salve and anchoring influence for Jayne, especially as mutual consent is sought at every stage of their intimacy. Portraying intergenerational immigrant experiences with a Korean cultural focus, this poignant story underscores self-sacrifices that prove to be life-sustaining in the name of sisterly love.

Intense, raw, textured. (Fiction. 14-18)