Pippa Park Raises Her Game

December 9, 2019
An empowering celebration of identity, friendship, and embracing one’s roots, Yun’s loose reimagining of Great Expectations follows a first-generation Korean-American girl learning to navigate her new life at an elite private school. When Pippa Park’s older sister, her caretaker, forces her to quit her Massachusetts public school’s basketball team to concentrate on her grades, her basketball dreams seem all but dead. Yet an unexpected lifeline appears when the elite Lakeview School suddenly offers her a basketball scholarship—with the condition that she maintain a 3.0 GPA. Spinning a web of half-truths about her background to fit in with wealthy new friends, Pippa loses sight of her grades, working-class family roots, and true friendships. #OwnVoices author Yun writes of Korean-American family life with heartwarming, authentic detail. The predictability of certain plot points, such as Pippa’s mysterious acceptance into Lakeview and the eventual exposure of her lies, is balanced by her cheerful charm. Tall, athletic, and brash, she is an unforced subversion of female Asian-American stereotypes even as she
confronts challenges unique to Asian-American teens. A subplot involving her aloof math tutor and his musical older brother adds another layer to the story, revealing Pippa’s capacity for empathy and the value of family in her world. Ages 10–12.