The Kimchi Fridge publishes October 6, 2026, from Little Bee Books & is available for preorder.
This book is a result of my attending the Marvelous Midwest SCBWI writers conference in 2023! You can read about that here. Scroll down to #10 on the list.
​Whether you eat kimchi or not, this book is about waiting, family & community, & of course, food. 

THE PRINCESS & THE GRAIN OF RICE publishes February 10th from Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing.

I can't wait to share this book with children, especially my kindergarten students! 

Honee Jang, the illustrator, has been a delight to work with on a special activity book & educator's guide. 

From Kirkus: ​A solid entry in the princess genre, elevated by its representation of Korean culture. This retelling of “The Princess and the Pea” draws from history to imagine a new story about a real monarch from 18th-century Korea, in the midst of the country’s centuries-long Joseon period.

Just a quick note that I recently received THE OTHER SIDE OF TOMORROW in Turkish. It's my first book to be translated, and I'm so grateful to the publisher Yuzukitap! If you read Turkish, check it out! I love that they want every book to feel like a gift, and so they include stickers, a postcard made by the illustrator, and a ribbon bookmark! Up next, the French edition on Sept. 10th, 2025! 

At the beginning of July, my editor emailed this awesome, surprising news--My novel, THE OTHER SIDE OF TOMORROW, was shortlisted for the Barnes & Noble Children's & YA Book Awards Young Readers List! Woo-hoo! I was so surprised and feel very honored to have our book on this list! Thanks you, B&N!

At the beginning of summer, I told God, please show me creative ways to market my books. Since I'm a teacher, I'm mostly unable to do author visits in schools during the school year. Perhaps this is His answer. Luck? I don't think so. Thank you, God! 

Also, the 5-day reading plan for God's Little Oceanographer is live in the You Version Bible app. If you download the app, click plans, in the search either type my name or type the title of my book to do this little devotion with your children. You can click the image below to go directly to the plan. I hope it's a blessing to your little ones!
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Lastly, I write a monthly newsletter on Substack. Click the image below to subscribe!

I'm a day late posting here, but you know all the hoopla associated with a new book. I wrote a newsletter about this book. Join me at my Substack! 

What's your good news? Share in the comments!

I finally conquered something on my TO DO list. Start a newsletter.
It all came about from this past summer when my Facebook got hacked.
I have been procrastinating this big time. One, I don't have a lot of time since I teach fulltime and write and cook and do other home responsibilities with a family. But I didn't want to lose my followers. And I've been listening to webinars from Author's Guild and other places that say having a newsletter is the best connection with your readers.

It's only taken me about three hours to complete this task, setting it all up, taking photos, making graphics, etc...

So I hope you'll take a look, subscribe, and enter my contest for 4 separate giveaways. Contest ends, December 10th, midnight, CST.
Here's the link to the newsletter. I'm thankful for all my writer friends & readers. I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving with your family & friends. 

Also a star from Kirkus and a star from Publishers Weekly. You can read the reviews here. And it's a Jr. Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Hooray! Thank you!

And if you'd like to win a free copy here in the U.S., GoodReads via my publisher Harper Collins is giving away 5 copies! Check it out! 

I'm deep in schoolwork preparing for parent teacher conferences as well as a middle grade book launch! My plate is overflowing! 

Events you are invited to:
10/26 Preorder book launch at Marion Public Library, 1:00, over by Cedar Falls, Iowa (Eastern IA)
11/15 Des Moines Book Launch at Beaverdale Bookstore 6:30pm
11/23 Book signing at Jordan Creek Barnes & Nobles West Des Moines 1:00-3:00pm 

If you're in the area, please join us! And if you have book launch tips, especially for middle grade, let me know in the comments! 

​New forthcoming graphic novel by me and Deb JJ Lee published by Harper Alley 11/12/24

In a nutshell: Two North Korean kids escape through the Asian Underground Railroad. Yes, it really exists! 
I interviewed many people for this story and did a lot of research. 

I started writing this story in 2012 in Deokso, South Korea. The early draft even won a Scholastic Asia Book Award! Since then it's morphed into different formats, structures, and even different titles.
You can read about part of the writing process here. 

I'm thankful for my agent and editor who had a vision for this story and that Deb JJ Lee took it to the next level with rich, flowing, and accurate illustrations.

Then in 2019 I met Mr. John Schu at the Iowa Library Associations conference. Never did I think he'd be doing the cover reveal for my novel! You can read his interview here.  

You can preorder it here: or wherever books are sold.
Now I wait until next November!