A Review of David Yoon’s Frankly in Love (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2019)

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A Review of David Yoon’s Frankly in Love (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2019)
By Stephen Hong Sohn



I was super duper excited to read David Yoon’s debut Frankly in Love (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2019), because it features a Korean American teenage male protagonist. I don’t think I’ve seen this figure very often, even in the YA genres that have been promoting more diverse central characters.

Let’s let the Penguin/ Random House give us some key marketing information: “Frank Li has two names. There’s Frank Li, his American name. Then there’s Sung-Min Li, his Korean name. No one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. Frank barely speaks any Korean. He was born and raised in Southern California. Even so, his parents still expect him to end up with a nice Korean girl–which is a problem, since Frank is finally dating the girl of his dreams: Brit Means. Brit, who is funny and nerdy just like him. Brit, who makes him laugh like no one else. Brit . . . who is white. As Frank falls in love for the very first time, he’s forced to confront the fact that while his parents sacrificed everything to raise him in the land of opportunity, their traditional expectations don’t leave a lot of room for him to be a regular American teen. Desperate to be with Brit without his parents finding out, Frank turns to family friend Joy Song, who is in a similar bind. Together, they come up with a plan to help each other and keep their parents off their backs. Frank thinks he’s found the solution to all his problems, but when life throws him a curveball, he’s left wondering whether he ever really knew anything about love—or himself—at all. In this moving debut novel—featuring striking blue stained edges and beautiful original endpaper art by the author—David Yoon takes on the question of who am I? with a result that is humorous, heartfelt, and ultimately unforgettable.”

So, the one admittedly bad thing that occurred was a result of happenstance sequencing. I read this book not long after Fake It till You Break It by Jenn P. Nguyen. There is a kind of similar storyline going on here in which two main characters “fake” a relationship in order for their parents basically to leave them alone. In both Nguyen’s and Yoon’s novels, the two main characters who end up “faking” it end up actually liking each other. With this particular novel, I was less invested in Frank Li and Joy Song’s relationship because I thought Yoon was tackling a far more difficult issue by positioning both Frank and Joy as teen characters who basically have to deal with the prejudices of their parents. In other words, Yoon had a real opportunity to explore how these teenage characters would have to work through the fact that their parents’ traditional viewpoints also in many cases simply overlap with racist convictions. Yoon sidesteps this conundrum by having Frank and Joy end up actually liking each other.

The other critique I ended up having was that another chance for Yoon to engage this topic is glossed over in the final arc of the novel. Indeed, Frank’s sister has been disowned for dating and then marrying someone who is African American. The rapprochement that is brokered at the conclusion makes some logical sense given the gravity of what happens during that period, but I had desperately hoped some substantive conversation or even scene might address the fact that the original rupture was incredibly damaging and quite complicated.

In any case, despite these critiques, I found the novel super engrossing and read it basically in one sitting. The characters reminded me a lot of my experiences in high school, and Frank is certainly a winning protagonist. It is easy to root for Frank at every stage. Even when he makes questionable decisions, you always understand his rationale. Though the novel clocks a little bit longer than I’d prefer for teaching texts, I’ll certainly consider it for future courses!

For more on the book and to buy it go here.

Review Author: Stephen Hong Sohn
Review Editor: Gnei Soraya Zarook

If you have any questions or want us to consider your book for review, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email!
Prof. Stephen Hong Sohn at ssohnucr@gmail.com
Gnei Soraya Zarook, PhD Student in English, at gzaro001@ucr.edu