Okchundang Candy
by Jung-soon Go; illus. by the author; trans. from Korean by Aerin Park
Intermediate, Middle School    Em Querido/Levine Querido    128 pp.
3/25    9781646145140    $21.99

Told in spare, quiet prose sprinkled with humor, Go’s illustrated autobiographical story unfolds around a close-knit Korean family. Jung-soon’s grandparents are both Korean War orphans who meet and build a life together, filled with happiness. The oldest of their three children is the protagonist’s father. While their shared war-based upbringing leads to thriftiness (“two squares for pee, three for poop”), Grandpa nevertheless brings fun into their lives, such as singing silly words to TV shows and dispensing the titular candy as part of Jesa day to honor the ancestors. Jung-soon happily spends school breaks in this idyllic home, escaping her parents’ turbulent relationship. When illness takes first the grandfather and then the grandmother, the girl learns how to accept grief and sadness, finding peace in everyday aspects of life: flower blossoms, pairs of birds, power wires that cross the sky. Go’s illustrations feature luminous palettes of yellows, greens, and pinks with more solemn black-and-white compositions, populating the spreads with whimsical, childlike shapes and creatures as well as straightforward portraits of day-to-day experiences. Love and family life permeate each page of this heartwarming story.

From the ">May/June 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.