KIMCHI AND CALAMARI
by Rose Kent
When his eighth-grade class is assigned to write about their ancestors’ journey to America, Joseph Calderaro has a problem: Who are his ancestors? Joseph was adopted from Korea. His parents are raising him in their Italian-American tradition. But though his favorite foods are calamari and eggplant parmesan, Joseph wonders about the sturdy Korean kid he sees in the mirror. His parents have no information to share. When Joseph befriends Yongsu, whose Korean-American family has just moved into the neighborhood, Yongsu’s mother treats Joseph with wary suspicion. His attempts to uncover his Korean roots frustrated, Joseph makes some up, passing off a famous Korean athlete as his grandfather. After his essay is chosen for submission to a national contest, Joseph must come clean. Despite its lighthearted tone, this first novel does justice to complex issues, from anxious adoptive parents to birth-parent searches. Joseph makes a funny, engaging tour guide to the world of transcultural adoption. Seasoned with familiar angst-provoking adolescent preoccupations—dating and embarrassing parents—Joseph’s story makes for an entertaining fictional stew. (Fiction. 9-13)