Asian American Literature Fans

A Review of Lyla Lee’s Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business (with illustrations by Dung Ho) (Aladdin, 2020).
By Stephen Hong Sohn

The publicity kit notes that “Mindy Kim speaks directly to Korean-American kids who have never seen themselves on the page, inviting readers to both express their cultural identity with pride and celebrate identities unlike their own.” I was definitely thinking about this very subject position, as I wonder how I might have reacted to a book like this one, if I had one like it when I was in the target age range (for 6 to 9 year olds). On the one hand, the main character is no doubt someone Korean American kids would identify with. On the other, there are moments in the narrative where you know that Lyla Lee, the author, is also having to balance her approach to her diverse reading audiences, some that will have little cultural knowledge of Koreans or Korean Americans. There were points where I was thinking: oh, I didn’t need that explanatory/ transnational reference at all (because I’m Korean).

In any case, let’s let the official page provide us with more information and background: “Mindy Kim just wants three things: 1. A puppy! 2. To fit in at her new school 3. For her dad to be happy again. But, getting all three of the things on her list is a lot trickier than she thought it would be. On her first day of school, Mindy’s school snack of dried seaweed isn’t exactly popular at the lunch table. Luckily, her new friend, Sally, makes the snacks seem totally delicious to Mindy’s new classmates, so they decide to start the Yummy Seaweed Business to try and raise money for that puppy! When another student decides to try and sabotage their business, Mindy loses more than she bargained for—and wonders if she’ll ever fit in. Will Mindy be able to overcome her uncertainty and find the courage to be herself?” There is one dark element to this story that parents will have to consider when giving this book to their kids, which involves the fact that Mindy’s mother dies from an illness. The type of illness is never disclosed but it’s clear that Mindy’s father is grieving at the opening of the novel. When Mindy and her father move from California to Florida at the beginning of the text, you can’t help but think it’s not only for the better job opportunity that her father receives but also because it allows the family to start anew, without the shadow of grief looming over the previous household.  

In any case, the melancholic nature of Mindy’s father is key to the storyline because Mindy believes that she can ostensibly “kill 3 birds with one stone” by starting up a seaweed business at school. Not only does this business afford her a privileged place in elementary school society, it also brings in the money that would enable her to buy that dog, which would then serve to uplift her father! *I suppose I should include spoiler warnings at this point, so look away unless you want the plot revealed.* Once Mindy’s business is discovered by school authorities to close down her business, which also complicates her existing friendship with Sally AND causes the school to call Mindy’s father. The conclusion, thus, engages in a kind of rapprochement in which Mindy must come clean about her motives to sell the seaweed while her father also must confront how he deals with his grief. It is a very mature story but one I believe is appropriately balanced with other elements, such as elementary school hijinks. Dung Ho’s illustrations also fully enfigure Lee’s plucky heroine, so Ho’s drawings are definitely an added bonus to an otherwise already textured narrative. Seems Mindy Kim is part of a longer series, so I’ll have to get on the next one right away. And, for those Korean American readers, especially ones far away from Korean groceries, you can expect that the story will make you pine for a little bit of kim.  

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Review Author: Stephen Hong Sohn
Review Editor: Leslie J. Fernandez

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
Leslie J. Fernandez, PhD Student in English, at lfern010@ucr.edu