Tuesday, August 11, 2009

MC Spotlight #11: Good Enough by Paula Yoo

YA Fresh MC Spotlight #11!

Good Enough

How to make your Korean parents happy:

1. Get a perfect score on the SATs.
2. Get into HarvardYalePrinceton.
3. Don't talk to boys.*

Patti's parents expect nothing less than the best from their Korean-American daughter. Everything she does affects her chances of getting into an Ivy League school. So winning assistant concertmaster in her All-State violin competition and earning less than 2300 on her SATs is simply not good enough.

But Patti's discovering that there's more to life than the Ivy League. To start with, there's Cute Trumpet Guy. He's funny, he's talented, and he looks exactly like the lead singer of Patti's favorite band. Then, of course, there's her love of the violin. Not to mention cool rock concerts. And anyway, what if Patti doesn't want to go to HarvardYalePrinceton after all?

Paula Yoo scores big in her hilarious debut novel about an overachiever who longs to fit in and strives to stand out. The pressure is on!

*Boys will distract you from your studies.

Read an excerpt here!

From Paula Yoo: Okay, I admit it. Like Patti Yoon, I play the violin. Yes, I was concertmaster of my Connecticut All-State High School Orchestra. And I snuck out occasionally to see a couple of cool bands (sorry, Mom & Dad). But this novel is a work of fiction. Although I too was forced to undergo a really bad home perm, it burned my left ear, not my right. And there was a cute guy in my homeroom who played rock guitar and asked me to work on a few songs with him, but his name was not Ben Wheeler. When I'm not writing novels that allegedly have nothing to do with my personal life, I also write TV scripts. I was born in Virginia and grew up in Connecticut. I've also lived in Seoul, Korea; New York; Seattle; and Detroit. I now live in Los Angeles with my husband, who plays guitar—and yes, we jam occasionally, just like Patti and Ben. Visit the author's website, www.PaulaYoo.com.

3 fresh comments:

TinaFerraro said...

Wonderful book! Bright, fun and energetic author! And for those who are interested in reading more from Paula, check out her SCBWI comference blogging at www.scbwi.blogspot.com!

Leigh Purtill said...

One of my absolute faves from last year!! Funny and sweet, a real page-turner. Paula's got a great, breezy style with this book. I highly recommend! :)

Jessica said...

I loved this book, and I got turned onto it because of Tina's recommendation! It's on my keeper shelf . . . When I bought this book I also bought one by David Yoo. At the time, I didn't realize it was her brother!! "Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before" is a good book, too....