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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.
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.
322 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2008
About the author
Paula Yoo
12 books82 followersPaula Yoo is an acclaimed book author, TV writer/producer, and musician. Her children’s and Young Adult nonfiction books and novels have won many awards, including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the National Book Award Longlist for Young People’s Literature, ALA-YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Honor, Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, the Asian Pacific American Youth Literature Award, several IRA Notables and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections, plus many starred reviews.
Her latest YA nonfiction book, RISING FROM THE ASHES: LOS ANGELES, 1992. EDWARD JAE SONG LEE, LATASHA HARLINS, RODNEY KING, AND A CITY ON FIRE, was published on May 7, 2024 by Norton Young Readers (W.W. Norton & Co.). It was selected as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard and has received five stars so far from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Horn Book, School Library Journal, and the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.
The paperback version of her award-winning YA nonfiction book, FROM A WHISPER TO A RALLYING CRY: THE KILLING OF VINCENT CHIN AND THE TRIAL THAT GALVANIZED THE ASIAN AMERICAN MOVEMENT (Norton Young Readers 2021) is now available along with a teacher’s guide.
Paula is also the author of several award-winning nonfiction children’s books for Lee & Low Books which include SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS: THE SAMMY LEE STORY, SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY, and TWENTY-TWO CENTS: MUHAMMAD YUNUS AND THE VILLAGE BANK. All three picture book biographies are available in chapter book form in Lee & Low’s “THE STORY OF…” series. Paula’s three CONFETTI KIDS early reader books for Lee and Low include LILY’S NEW HOME, WANT TO PLAY, and THE PERFECT GIFT, which have received starred reviews and were chosen as a CCBC Choices by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections.
As an executive producer/screenwriter, Paula has written for over a dozen TV shows, from NBC’s The West Wing to Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle and The CW’s Supergirl. She has sold several TV pilots and features to places like Peacock, Onyx/Hulu, and Amazon. She has been a member of the WGA (Writers Guild of America) since 2002.
As a former journalist, Paula wrote for The Seattle Times, The Detroit News, and PEOPLE Magazine. She graduated with a B.A. cum laude in English from Yale University, an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College, where she was the recipient of the Larry Levis Fellowship in Fiction.
Paula also works as a professional violinist, having played with such ensembles as the Southeast Symphony, Vicente Chamber Orchestra, Torrance Symphony, Glendale Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, and the Detroit Civic Symphony Orchestra. She performed, toured and recorded with bands such as Il Divo, No Doubt, Fun, Arthur Lee, Love Revisited, Spiritualized, and the King Crimson tribute band The Great Deceivers. She is a member of the AFM Local 47 (American Federation of Musicians).
Paula lives with her family and cats in Los Angeles, California. Her brother, David Yoo, is also an acclaimed book author who has written many Young Adult and adult novels for Hyperion, Delacorte, Balzer & Bray, and Grand Central. https://www.daveyoo.com/author/
Her latest YA nonfiction book, RISING FROM THE ASHES: LOS ANGELES, 1992. EDWARD JAE SONG LEE, LATASHA HARLINS, RODNEY KING, AND A CITY ON FIRE, was published on May 7, 2024 by Norton Young Readers (W.W. Norton & Co.). It was selected as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard and has received five stars so far from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Horn Book, School Library Journal, and the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.
The paperback version of her award-winning YA nonfiction book, FROM A WHISPER TO A RALLYING CRY: THE KILLING OF VINCENT CHIN AND THE TRIAL THAT GALVANIZED THE ASIAN AMERICAN MOVEMENT (Norton Young Readers 2021) is now available along with a teacher’s guide.
Paula is also the author of several award-winning nonfiction children’s books for Lee & Low Books which include SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS: THE SAMMY LEE STORY, SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY, and TWENTY-TWO CENTS: MUHAMMAD YUNUS AND THE VILLAGE BANK. All three picture book biographies are available in chapter book form in Lee & Low’s “THE STORY OF…” series. Paula’s three CONFETTI KIDS early reader books for Lee and Low include LILY’S NEW HOME, WANT TO PLAY, and THE PERFECT GIFT, which have received starred reviews and were chosen as a CCBC Choices by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections.
As an executive producer/screenwriter, Paula has written for over a dozen TV shows, from NBC’s The West Wing to Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle and The CW’s Supergirl. She has sold several TV pilots and features to places like Peacock, Onyx/Hulu, and Amazon. She has been a member of the WGA (Writers Guild of America) since 2002.
As a former journalist, Paula wrote for The Seattle Times, The Detroit News, and PEOPLE Magazine. She graduated with a B.A. cum laude in English from Yale University, an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College, where she was the recipient of the Larry Levis Fellowship in Fiction.
Paula also works as a professional violinist, having played with such ensembles as the Southeast Symphony, Vicente Chamber Orchestra, Torrance Symphony, Glendale Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, and the Detroit Civic Symphony Orchestra. She performed, toured and recorded with bands such as Il Divo, No Doubt, Fun, Arthur Lee, Love Revisited, Spiritualized, and the King Crimson tribute band The Great Deceivers. She is a member of the AFM Local 47 (American Federation of Musicians).
Paula lives with her family and cats in Los Angeles, California. Her brother, David Yoo, is also an acclaimed book author who has written many Young Adult and adult novels for Hyperion, Delacorte, Balzer & Bray, and Grand Central. https://www.daveyoo.com/author/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 331 reviews
September 10, 2021
I have loved reading since I learned how to do it (except for when I was like 14 and took a sabbatical to experiment with being insufferable full time), but my tastes have changed.
For example: Now I read anything that anyone has ever liked, anything with a cover I have ever liked, and anything anyone has ever described as a must read.
When I was a teenager (excluding the aforementioned time off), I read anything with a fluffy title that was categorized as "YA contemporary" but would have been more accurate if called "teen romance."
But from the ages of 9 to 12, my tastes went no further than "sneak into the young adult section without the children's librarian seeing you and grab anything with pink on the spine, because usually those books are age-inappropriate and therefore juicy and worth the read."
Escapades like these are what led to the infamous asking-my-mom-what-a-bl*wj*b-was-when-I-was-in-5th-grade story, but they also led to me reading this book.
Which somehow was good to 9 year old me, 15 year old me, AND 23 year old me. Three people with very little in common.
This is simply a nice book about finding yourself and being good at things and eating food that sounds good. And that's all I need from anything.
Bottom line: What a win for the idea of time being a powerless construct!
----------------
pre-review
since when does 10 year old me have good taste???
review to come / 4 stars
----------------
currently-reading updates
don't mind me, just randomly reading this for no reason other than i vaguely remember liking it in childhood
For example: Now I read anything that anyone has ever liked, anything with a cover I have ever liked, and anything anyone has ever described as a must read.
When I was a teenager (excluding the aforementioned time off), I read anything with a fluffy title that was categorized as "YA contemporary" but would have been more accurate if called "teen romance."
But from the ages of 9 to 12, my tastes went no further than "sneak into the young adult section without the children's librarian seeing you and grab anything with pink on the spine, because usually those books are age-inappropriate and therefore juicy and worth the read."
Escapades like these are what led to the infamous asking-my-mom-what-a-bl*wj*b-was-when-I-was-in-5th-grade story, but they also led to me reading this book.
Which somehow was good to 9 year old me, 15 year old me, AND 23 year old me. Three people with very little in common.
This is simply a nice book about finding yourself and being good at things and eating food that sounds good. And that's all I need from anything.
Bottom line: What a win for the idea of time being a powerless construct!
----------------
pre-review
since when does 10 year old me have good taste???
review to come / 4 stars
----------------
currently-reading updates
don't mind me, just randomly reading this for no reason other than i vaguely remember liking it in childhood
April 23, 2014
As an Asian-American, I'm always on the lookout for books either written by Asian-Americans, or featuring Asian-Americans as protagonists--or better still, fulfilling both categories. I picked up Good Enough by Paula Yoo because it fulfilled both categories, and was in the YA genre. For some reason publishers think Asian teens don't exist, but somehow emerge as fully-formed adults. Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Jhumpa Lahiri--these are all critically acclaimed Asian authors who are known for writing about the adult Asian-American experience.
I grew up in a school where Asians were a minority--but not by much. Approximately 40% of my town's residents were Asian (mostly Indian and Chinese, with one or two other national origins mixed in), and my high school was named #1 school in New Jersey, and had many other honors. Some of my classmates exhausted the curricula at school and took courses at Princeton. I graduated in the top ten of my high school class, which is no easy feat. The top students, including myself, were almost exclusively Asian. But we were still teenagers, and we had interests like music, anime, art, sports, politics, etc. and loved just hanging out with one another. We never considered ourselves too different from our white classmates, since there were popular Asians, cheerleader and jock Asians, as well as nerdy Asians, and every type of person in between.
That's why this book was so disappointing. It enforced a model minority trope without giving the main character, Patti Yoon, a realistic life or perspective. Her parents are basically caricatures of Asian parents; I had the strictest parents of my group of friends, and they weren't nearly as obsessive about my life (at least in high school; now it's another story). The obsession with her SATs is unhealthy. I don't recall myself or any of my classmates who got into the vaunted 2300 club ever studying that hard for the SATs--we knew that it would only test some basic problem solving information and vocabulary we already built BY READING, not memorizing random words and using them out of context. Patti talks about studying and liking the material, but she never seems truly engaged by it.
I also am weirded out by how little of modern pop culture that Patti understands. My friends and I all had EXTENSIVE music collections and watched plenty of TV (probably to the detriment of our sleep schedule :X), and if asked, we could rattle off songs by many punk, classic rock, and metal bands we loved. I can't imagine a single teenager, Asian or not, who DOESN'T know The Clash, or doesn't realize that classical can be combined with rock. Hell, my group in high school was obsessed with Bond, the female string quartet, and I was part of a woodwind choir that did a bunch of jazz songs.
I found Patti's relationship with Ben surprising but realistic. I'm glad that . Unfortunately, many guys in high school prioritize the hot chick over the smart girl, but honestly, if I were in his shoes I wouldn't choose Patti either. She's so focused on getting into the Ivies that she isn't focused on what she likes, or what she's going to do when she gets there.
I did find the parts where Patti's parents faced racism and struggles in Korea moving. It's hard having your parents' accent mocked, or having them come to you to correct their emails' grammar even though they're perfectly fluent. My own dad speaks English in a perfect newscaster's accent after 30 years, but employers look at his non-English name and decide he's a foreigner. In one scene, Stephanie and her mom see Patti and her dad in Target, and Stephanie's mother hears Mr. Yoon's accent and insults him. Stephanie is clearly distressed by this, and later in school apologizes to Patti, which she does not accept. I am all for victims of racism having the onus to dictate how conversations about racism go, but it seemed like Stephanie really DID understand what was wrong and sincerely wanted to change. By shutting her down, not only is she canceling out the progress Stephanie made, but also eliminates any dialogue about Stephanie's appalling Geisha costume a few chapters back. If you are going to assert yourself, at least get EVERYTHING off your chest.
I also found it weird that Patti claims Susan is her best friend, but barely mentions her. Instead, she talks more about her church youth group friends, who indeed, are hilarious.
The end is somewhat satisfying in that the author makes it clear that Patti does go on to have a more interesting life, as do most of her hardworking youth group friends. But Patti's lack of depth just makes this a book I'd never, ever recommend. Asian-Americans are multifaceted people not grade-obsessed robots. We deserve better than some trite exploration of our issues regarding the academic pressure cooker.
I grew up in a school where Asians were a minority--but not by much. Approximately 40% of my town's residents were Asian (mostly Indian and Chinese, with one or two other national origins mixed in), and my high school was named #1 school in New Jersey, and had many other honors. Some of my classmates exhausted the curricula at school and took courses at Princeton. I graduated in the top ten of my high school class, which is no easy feat. The top students, including myself, were almost exclusively Asian. But we were still teenagers, and we had interests like music, anime, art, sports, politics, etc. and loved just hanging out with one another. We never considered ourselves too different from our white classmates, since there were popular Asians, cheerleader and jock Asians, as well as nerdy Asians, and every type of person in between.
That's why this book was so disappointing. It enforced a model minority trope without giving the main character, Patti Yoon, a realistic life or perspective. Her parents are basically caricatures of Asian parents; I had the strictest parents of my group of friends, and they weren't nearly as obsessive about my life (at least in high school; now it's another story). The obsession with her SATs is unhealthy. I don't recall myself or any of my classmates who got into the vaunted 2300 club ever studying that hard for the SATs--we knew that it would only test some basic problem solving information and vocabulary we already built BY READING, not memorizing random words and using them out of context. Patti talks about studying and liking the material, but she never seems truly engaged by it.
I also am weirded out by how little of modern pop culture that Patti understands. My friends and I all had EXTENSIVE music collections and watched plenty of TV (probably to the detriment of our sleep schedule :X), and if asked, we could rattle off songs by many punk, classic rock, and metal bands we loved. I can't imagine a single teenager, Asian or not, who DOESN'T know The Clash, or doesn't realize that classical can be combined with rock. Hell, my group in high school was obsessed with Bond, the female string quartet, and I was part of a woodwind choir that did a bunch of jazz songs.
I found Patti's relationship with Ben surprising but realistic. I'm glad that . Unfortunately, many guys in high school prioritize the hot chick over the smart girl, but honestly, if I were in his shoes I wouldn't choose Patti either. She's so focused on getting into the Ivies that she isn't focused on what she likes, or what she's going to do when she gets there.
I did find the parts where Patti's parents faced racism and struggles in Korea moving. It's hard having your parents' accent mocked, or having them come to you to correct their emails' grammar even though they're perfectly fluent. My own dad speaks English in a perfect newscaster's accent after 30 years, but employers look at his non-English name and decide he's a foreigner. In one scene, Stephanie and her mom see Patti and her dad in Target, and Stephanie's mother hears Mr. Yoon's accent and insults him. Stephanie is clearly distressed by this, and later in school apologizes to Patti, which she does not accept. I am all for victims of racism having the onus to dictate how conversations about racism go, but it seemed like Stephanie really DID understand what was wrong and sincerely wanted to change. By shutting her down, not only is she canceling out the progress Stephanie made, but also eliminates any dialogue about Stephanie's appalling Geisha costume a few chapters back. If you are going to assert yourself, at least get EVERYTHING off your chest.
I also found it weird that Patti claims Susan is her best friend, but barely mentions her. Instead, she talks more about her church youth group friends, who indeed, are hilarious.
The end is somewhat satisfying in that the author makes it clear that Patti does go on to have a more interesting life, as do most of her hardworking youth group friends. But Patti's lack of depth just makes this a book I'd never, ever recommend. Asian-Americans are multifaceted people not grade-obsessed robots. We deserve better than some trite exploration of our issues regarding the academic pressure cooker.
Read
February 26, 2011My friend Sara said that after watching the last episode of the final season of Hannah Montana, she just wanted to sit there and cry.
That is how I felt after reading this book.
Bitter-sweet. Half happy half sad. And it has nothing to do with the actual ending, or if I liked the characters or not, and everything to do with the fact that I'm a senior and I'm about to graduate and I completely understood every single word about the stupid SATs (or in my case, ACTs) and getting into all the right colleges and trying to balance a confusing class schedule. And I may have absolutely no clue what spam tastes like and thank goodness my parents are not complete-control-freak Koreans and I certainly do not have the slightest inclination for musical genius...
Yet somehow I understood every word of this book.
I just consumed it. I read the entire thing in like an hour, almost in one sitting. Something about Patti's life just echoed with me. And so now I'm sitting here...going through a whirl wind of emotions and feeling like I just made it through an earthquake.
Or maybe a tsunami.
But somehow it doesn't matter. Because for a few minutes I allowed life to be drowned out and read about a girl who is so different from me...yet with whom I share so much.
Sound sappy?
I'm just getting started.
Patti is the daughter of two Korean immigrants, and since day one of kindergarten she's been prepared to do Everything In Her Power to get into a prestigious Ivy League School. HarvardYalePrinceton to be exact. Her parents have been saving since before she was born to afford it.
Yup, no presure.
Good Enough follows this young woman who loves playing the violin through her senior year: full of AP classes, college applications, music, a cute boy.
And the pressure of home and "Korean church" as she struggles to learn where to go and what to do and really, what makes her happy.
When I first began, I assumed the book would focus on Patti's "romance" with "Cute Trumpet Guy". I assumed it would be a dorky, cute "nerd-turned-Cinderella" story.
Boy, was I wrong . And I'm so glad I was. Because this is a story that doesn't need any stupid romance to make it. It is deeper then that. And maybe right now I'm simply going insane due to pressure and picking a college and if I have to write another essay I'm going to shoot someone and really, I could be the world's worst judge of books right now.
But heck, I don't care.
Because this book just...clicked. Like when Patti discovers "rock music" and how she experienced a new kind of anger, that is how I feel. And I don't think it is a very good feeling, but at least I'm feeling something. Even if that is anger and frustration.
My favorite element of this book was Patti's youth group. Not at first, at first they were a bunch of jerks. But when she confesses that she is going to the concert and they all step up to help her....It was so adorable. And you know what? You can't fool me for a moment. They aren't "Christian kids". But it was okay. Because I felt their interaction was...true. And I understood the stress they were under.
My absolute favorite thing about this book though...came at the end.
I just clicked with this book. It was kind of mindless compared to what I normally read...but it was so worth it. I would especially reccomend it to high school seniors. It is okay to snap in ways like this. It might be a bit "simple" but good heavens, who doesn't need a break every now and then? Don't be perfect. Pick up the bloody book and allow yourself to hurdle through a whirlwind of emotion.
Sometimes, you just need to.
I'm sure there are several things wrong with the book...but right now I don't care to think about them. I enjoyed it to much.
For a moment or two I'm going to relax in that, and maybe some day I'll be able to "think straight" about the pressure put on seniors.
But right now I'm happy.
And whirling.
But that is a start.
That is how I felt after reading this book.
Bitter-sweet. Half happy half sad. And it has nothing to do with the actual ending, or if I liked the characters or not, and everything to do with the fact that I'm a senior and I'm about to graduate and I completely understood every single word about the stupid SATs (or in my case, ACTs) and getting into all the right colleges and trying to balance a confusing class schedule. And I may have absolutely no clue what spam tastes like and thank goodness my parents are not complete-control-freak Koreans and I certainly do not have the slightest inclination for musical genius...
Yet somehow I understood every word of this book.
I just consumed it. I read the entire thing in like an hour, almost in one sitting. Something about Patti's life just echoed with me. And so now I'm sitting here...going through a whirl wind of emotions and feeling like I just made it through an earthquake.
Or maybe a tsunami.
But somehow it doesn't matter. Because for a few minutes I allowed life to be drowned out and read about a girl who is so different from me...yet with whom I share so much.
Sound sappy?
I'm just getting started.
Patti is the daughter of two Korean immigrants, and since day one of kindergarten she's been prepared to do Everything In Her Power to get into a prestigious Ivy League School. HarvardYalePrinceton to be exact. Her parents have been saving since before she was born to afford it.
Yup, no presure.
Good Enough follows this young woman who loves playing the violin through her senior year: full of AP classes, college applications, music, a cute boy.
And the pressure of home and "Korean church" as she struggles to learn where to go and what to do and really, what makes her happy.
When I first began, I assumed the book would focus on Patti's "romance" with "Cute Trumpet Guy". I assumed it would be a dorky, cute "nerd-turned-Cinderella" story.
Boy, was I wrong . And I'm so glad I was. Because this is a story that doesn't need any stupid romance to make it. It is deeper then that. And maybe right now I'm simply going insane due to pressure and picking a college and if I have to write another essay I'm going to shoot someone and really, I could be the world's worst judge of books right now.
But heck, I don't care.
Because this book just...clicked. Like when Patti discovers "rock music" and how she experienced a new kind of anger, that is how I feel. And I don't think it is a very good feeling, but at least I'm feeling something. Even if that is anger and frustration.
My favorite element of this book was Patti's youth group. Not at first, at first they were a bunch of jerks. But when she confesses that she is going to the concert and they all step up to help her....It was so adorable. And you know what? You can't fool me for a moment. They aren't "Christian kids". But it was okay. Because I felt their interaction was...true. And I understood the stress they were under.
My absolute favorite thing about this book though...came at the end.
I just clicked with this book. It was kind of mindless compared to what I normally read...but it was so worth it. I would especially reccomend it to high school seniors. It is okay to snap in ways like this. It might be a bit "simple" but good heavens, who doesn't need a break every now and then? Don't be perfect. Pick up the bloody book and allow yourself to hurdle through a whirlwind of emotion.
Sometimes, you just need to.
I'm sure there are several things wrong with the book...but right now I don't care to think about them. I enjoyed it to much.
For a moment or two I'm going to relax in that, and maybe some day I'll be able to "think straight" about the pressure put on seniors.
But right now I'm happy.
And whirling.
But that is a start.
December 3, 2008
A cute, funny book with a touch of poignancy -- this is the book to give to Lisa Yee fans who are going to high school.
Patti Yoon is under a lot of pressure: her Korean-American parents want her to excel in everything, and that means getting into All-State Orchestra, socring a 2300 on the SATs, and getting into what they refer to as "HARVARDYALEPRINCETON." But when her first gander at handsome Ben -- aka Cute Trumpet Guy -- causes her to blow her All-State audition (egads, she's relegated to the position of assistant concertmaster) and otherwise perfect record of overacheivement, it causes a chain of events that leads Patti to question the direction her life is taking. Is it more important to be good enough for you parents, or good enough for yourself?
I had quite a few chuckles over this book. There's many a list regarding "How to Keep Your Korean Parents Happy," a cast of goofy characters, a treatise on double-fold eyelids, and even a few Korean recipes that use Spam. It's just the kind of book that I imagine Lane Kim from The Gilmore Girls would write.
Patti Yoon is under a lot of pressure: her Korean-American parents want her to excel in everything, and that means getting into All-State Orchestra, socring a 2300 on the SATs, and getting into what they refer to as "HARVARDYALEPRINCETON." But when her first gander at handsome Ben -- aka Cute Trumpet Guy -- causes her to blow her All-State audition (egads, she's relegated to the position of assistant concertmaster) and otherwise perfect record of overacheivement, it causes a chain of events that leads Patti to question the direction her life is taking. Is it more important to be good enough for you parents, or good enough for yourself?
I had quite a few chuckles over this book. There's many a list regarding "How to Keep Your Korean Parents Happy," a cast of goofy characters, a treatise on double-fold eyelids, and even a few Korean recipes that use Spam. It's just the kind of book that I imagine Lane Kim from The Gilmore Girls would write.
December 23, 2015
This book sparked my inner musician in so many ways. The book starts off with a viola joke--something that made me laugh hysterically, because, as a violinist, I am one of the many cruel people in this world who love to beat up viola players, a revenge for the fact that viola players don't have to work as hard to climb the ladder into a higher orchestra.
Patti Yoon is a Korean-American violin prodigy who is pressured by her parents to get into HARVARDYALEPRINCETON. However, when she meets a cute trumpet player named Ben, he inspires her to make herself happy instead of just making her parents happy. The story is illustrated with fun lists, recipes, and SAT test tips.
First off, let me say that this story IS NOT A ROMANCE. It was a refreshing change from the usual mandatory YA romances and mostly spent on Patti's struggles to meet her parent's expectations. The story involves a lot of telling through lists to get to a new event in a story, which is an interesting device, yet a risky one. I rather enjoyed the lists and the SAT test tips (I have to take the SAT next year) but I could've used more of the actual story.
In many books I have been reading these days, I have found the writing style to be so simplistic that I can say to myself, "At least in writing quality, Sophie, you have a chance." This book was no exception. The writing style was a little too simplistic for my tastes, especially considering Patti's high level of intelligence. I wasn't really sensing her high level of intelligence from the writing.
Also, the author tended to say "okay" a lot, which led me to believe that that was the way she talked. When I read the back book flap, I was convinced that even though Paula Yoo claimed it to be a work of fiction, so many things lined up with her life and I seriously wondered just how much was true with her life. Patti Yoon, Paula Yoo--those names are suspiciously similar. They both play the violin, had friends who were boys who were into rock music and guitar, they're both Korean-American, they both had a bad perm that burned one of their ears, they both did this thing that I will not spoil--those are a lot of similarities right there.
What I really loved (and saved the book from getting two stars due to its simplicity) was the music. I am NOT a violin prodigy. I know some though (most being arrogant, self absorbed, and overworked) and Patti does not really fit into the usual personality box. She's playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, which I played just recently and knew EXACTLY what she was talking about with the cadenza and tripping up the eighth notes. I felt like I was part of a secret club for people who've played the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and it made me smile inside. I also loved, loved, LOVED the inclusion of orchestra stereotype jokes. I'm part of Cascade Youth Symphony Orchestra, where calling out a section means a friendly boo from the rest of the orchestra, and those stereotype jokes are dear to my heart. When Patti was talking about the back of the second violin section being "gossip central" I could immediately relate. The back of the second violin section indeed is gossip central. When she was talking about how you could be really technically advanced but be less of a player than someone else, with more emotion and heart in their playing, I could relate. I've seen that situation all the time, especially with people who are forced to practice four hours a day and eat, sleep, and breathe classical music.
This particular list on page 180 made me jump up in down in excitement:
Top Ten Reasons Why You're Afraid Your Youth Orchestra Will Fall Apart Performing the Mendelssohn Concerto:
1. The trombone section flirts too much with the girls in the viola section.
2. The girls in the viola section wear too much makeup to rehearsal and are always reapplying their foundation during the rests in music.
3. Our first oboist's reeds keep breaking, so she is always interrupting rehearsal to carve out a new one.
4. Susan, our first bassoonist, had her wisdom teeth removed last week, so she's having trouble playing.
5. The percussion section always shows up late to rehearsal.
6. Tiffany Chung keeps challenging me every week, thus wasting valuable rehearsal time.
7. Samuel Kwon is always arguing with our conductor about the bowings for the cello section.
8. Gossip Central (aka The Back of the Second Violin Section) can't concentrate during rehearsal because our second trombonist was caught cheating on his violist girlfriend during break with the first clarinetist.
9. For some reason, we're missing a flute player.
10. Everyone has given up hope that I will be able to play the entire cadenza without making a mistake.
There were also problems I had with the music in the book. Patti Yoon did not really seem like a violin prodigy. She didn't have the right personality, or enough personality at all in general. There were times when she was comparing herself to other violinists and I thought that it could've been useful for the author to harness that and make it a more meaningful part of her character. She also did not seem genuinely stressed enough with all the things she had to deal with every day and the lack of overall fun she had.
Also, Capriccio Espagnol is NOT a hard piece. Like, at all. And I'm not a prodigy like the kids in the Allstate orchestra. I don't understand why they were struggling so much. Neither is the Mendelssohn violin concerto, really. Okay (here I am using "okay"), it's a hard piece, but it shouldn't be for Patti. It should be easy for Patti. I found that after a few months of working on it, it wasn't hard to play anymore. But Patti somehow found it extremely hard and it bothered me. Also, the cadenza is probably the most easy cadenza to fake in the history of violin playing. It's not even that long. And if she's been working on it forever, surely she should have it memorized!
I know that I'm being nitpicky about the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and that Patti Yoon may not have very good memorization skills, but the fact that I didn't really struggle so much with it means that surely she will find it easier than I did, being a prodigy. Right?
All in all, I liked this book. I read it in an afternoon, it tickled my inner violinist, and the lists were really good. I just wish it was more accurate in its representation of a violin prodigy, a HARVARDYALEPRINCETON-destined daughter, and a teenager in general.
Patti Yoon is a Korean-American violin prodigy who is pressured by her parents to get into HARVARDYALEPRINCETON. However, when she meets a cute trumpet player named Ben, he inspires her to make herself happy instead of just making her parents happy. The story is illustrated with fun lists, recipes, and SAT test tips.
First off, let me say that this story IS NOT A ROMANCE. It was a refreshing change from the usual mandatory YA romances and mostly spent on Patti's struggles to meet her parent's expectations. The story involves a lot of telling through lists to get to a new event in a story, which is an interesting device, yet a risky one. I rather enjoyed the lists and the SAT test tips (I have to take the SAT next year) but I could've used more of the actual story.
In many books I have been reading these days, I have found the writing style to be so simplistic that I can say to myself, "At least in writing quality, Sophie, you have a chance." This book was no exception. The writing style was a little too simplistic for my tastes, especially considering Patti's high level of intelligence. I wasn't really sensing her high level of intelligence from the writing.
Also, the author tended to say "okay" a lot, which led me to believe that that was the way she talked. When I read the back book flap, I was convinced that even though Paula Yoo claimed it to be a work of fiction, so many things lined up with her life and I seriously wondered just how much was true with her life. Patti Yoon, Paula Yoo--those names are suspiciously similar. They both play the violin, had friends who were boys who were into rock music and guitar, they're both Korean-American, they both had a bad perm that burned one of their ears, they both did this thing that I will not spoil--those are a lot of similarities right there.
What I really loved (and saved the book from getting two stars due to its simplicity) was the music. I am NOT a violin prodigy. I know some though (most being arrogant, self absorbed, and overworked) and Patti does not really fit into the usual personality box. She's playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, which I played just recently and knew EXACTLY what she was talking about with the cadenza and tripping up the eighth notes. I felt like I was part of a secret club for people who've played the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and it made me smile inside. I also loved, loved, LOVED the inclusion of orchestra stereotype jokes. I'm part of Cascade Youth Symphony Orchestra, where calling out a section means a friendly boo from the rest of the orchestra, and those stereotype jokes are dear to my heart. When Patti was talking about the back of the second violin section being "gossip central" I could immediately relate. The back of the second violin section indeed is gossip central. When she was talking about how you could be really technically advanced but be less of a player than someone else, with more emotion and heart in their playing, I could relate. I've seen that situation all the time, especially with people who are forced to practice four hours a day and eat, sleep, and breathe classical music.
This particular list on page 180 made me jump up in down in excitement:
Top Ten Reasons Why You're Afraid Your Youth Orchestra Will Fall Apart Performing the Mendelssohn Concerto:
1. The trombone section flirts too much with the girls in the viola section.
2. The girls in the viola section wear too much makeup to rehearsal and are always reapplying their foundation during the rests in music.
3. Our first oboist's reeds keep breaking, so she is always interrupting rehearsal to carve out a new one.
4. Susan, our first bassoonist, had her wisdom teeth removed last week, so she's having trouble playing.
5. The percussion section always shows up late to rehearsal.
6. Tiffany Chung keeps challenging me every week, thus wasting valuable rehearsal time.
7. Samuel Kwon is always arguing with our conductor about the bowings for the cello section.
8. Gossip Central (aka The Back of the Second Violin Section) can't concentrate during rehearsal because our second trombonist was caught cheating on his violist girlfriend during break with the first clarinetist.
9. For some reason, we're missing a flute player.
10. Everyone has given up hope that I will be able to play the entire cadenza without making a mistake.
There were also problems I had with the music in the book. Patti Yoon did not really seem like a violin prodigy. She didn't have the right personality, or enough personality at all in general. There were times when she was comparing herself to other violinists and I thought that it could've been useful for the author to harness that and make it a more meaningful part of her character. She also did not seem genuinely stressed enough with all the things she had to deal with every day and the lack of overall fun she had.
Also, Capriccio Espagnol is NOT a hard piece. Like, at all. And I'm not a prodigy like the kids in the Allstate orchestra. I don't understand why they were struggling so much. Neither is the Mendelssohn violin concerto, really. Okay (here I am using "okay"), it's a hard piece, but it shouldn't be for Patti. It should be easy for Patti. I found that after a few months of working on it, it wasn't hard to play anymore. But Patti somehow found it extremely hard and it bothered me. Also, the cadenza is probably the most easy cadenza to fake in the history of violin playing. It's not even that long. And if she's been working on it forever, surely she should have it memorized!
I know that I'm being nitpicky about the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and that Patti Yoon may not have very good memorization skills, but the fact that I didn't really struggle so much with it means that surely she will find it easier than I did, being a prodigy. Right?
All in all, I liked this book. I read it in an afternoon, it tickled my inner violinist, and the lists were really good. I just wish it was more accurate in its representation of a violin prodigy, a HARVARDYALEPRINCETON-destined daughter, and a teenager in general.
March 12, 2023
*3.5
it felt more powerful when she explained it in person, but i wish it felt more that way when i was reading it? im not sure.
it felt more powerful when she explained it in person, but i wish it felt more that way when i was reading it? im not sure.
March 4, 2019
Like I said over & over, I don't read many YAs but I had to read this one because it has Korean background. Liked it so much! The story is told beautifully, the problems are real and not shallow. Quality read!
June 14, 2021
The second I read the synopsis for this book, I knew I had to read it right away, being the complete violin nerd I am who foams at the mouth at so much as a mention of a violinist in a book. Good Enough might be a simple contemporary novel, but that doesn't mean it wasn't profound; it was certainly a relatable experience. I won't claim that I have tiger parents or that I ever felt victimized by my family, so I can't entirely say I relate to Patti Yoon's circumstances to a T. However, having escaped the toils of the soul-sucking college admissions process, I loved reading Patti Yoon's story, especially since she is a violinist like myself.
Now, I'm no B-tier prodigy, but regardless, I, too, feel inexplicable love for playing my violin and music in general. I pity the kids who are forced into learning an instrument solely to 'look good for colleges.' I feel very grateful that I never quit the violin when I was struggling to learn treble clef and fingerings as a fifth-grader. I am also extremely grateful that I love music so strongly and passionately that I've never felt it to be a weight on my shoulders. Unfortunately, the ambition of actually becoming a musician is stigmatized as risky, a constant gamble (in the era of COVID especially).
And that's the thing, isn't it? Risk. Our parents and elders would have us to believe that a life without risk in which one is coddled with cushy job security is ideal. Those of us who venture into careers that pan out as constant gambles will never escape risk. It is all of our dream to become successful enough to do what we love and also get paid for it.
Like many of us non-Asians, we have all heard the jokes, the jabs, and the pity surrounding how Asians are notoriously strict in child upbringing; they stand in popular culture as the quintessential harbingers of hours of draining SAT prep and ivy expectations higher than the ozone layer. Paula Yoo very much hones in on what it is like to have these 'tiger parents' and how frustrating it can be to live with people who constantly nag you about your grades and future. Patti Yoon follows her parent's yellow brick road to success, fulfilling each of their expectations to a T: becoming the best at a unique talent (violin), earn stellar grades to become valedictorian, and earn acceptance to Ivy Leagues. Even though Patti's work shows for itself and she is surrounded by hard-earned successes, this came at a cost to her relative social isolation and lack of adolescent experiences. I'm no stranger to this lifestyle either.
In Patti Yoon's senior year, she finally understands what the culmination of all her efforts should amount to: her happiness. Not her parents' happiness, or her bank accounts. You don't have to be the absolute cream of the crop to feel content with your place in life. Will good things come of hard work regardless? Of course. But putting yourself down because you aren't as academically strong as the valedictorian or as technically talented as the concertmaster isn't going to help anyone in the long run. The way some parents treat their children twists their mindset into thinking like this, no matter how hard they reason with themselves. Even so, you can't sacrifice happiness for success. It's not worth it. A life lacking personal contentment and happiness is not sustainable for anyone, no matter what your parents/family have to say about it. Good Enough is a perfect example of how difficult and debilitating it can be for ambitious teens aiming to achieve seemingly-impossible goals, and Patti Yoon shows us that, as long as we're following our instincts and aim to be happy first and foremost, we'll be absolutely fine.
Now, I'm no B-tier prodigy, but regardless, I, too, feel inexplicable love for playing my violin and music in general. I pity the kids who are forced into learning an instrument solely to 'look good for colleges.' I feel very grateful that I never quit the violin when I was struggling to learn treble clef and fingerings as a fifth-grader. I am also extremely grateful that I love music so strongly and passionately that I've never felt it to be a weight on my shoulders. Unfortunately, the ambition of actually becoming a musician is stigmatized as risky, a constant gamble (in the era of COVID especially).
And that's the thing, isn't it? Risk. Our parents and elders would have us to believe that a life without risk in which one is coddled with cushy job security is ideal. Those of us who venture into careers that pan out as constant gambles will never escape risk. It is all of our dream to become successful enough to do what we love and also get paid for it.
Like many of us non-Asians, we have all heard the jokes, the jabs, and the pity surrounding how Asians are notoriously strict in child upbringing; they stand in popular culture as the quintessential harbingers of hours of draining SAT prep and ivy expectations higher than the ozone layer. Paula Yoo very much hones in on what it is like to have these 'tiger parents' and how frustrating it can be to live with people who constantly nag you about your grades and future. Patti Yoon follows her parent's yellow brick road to success, fulfilling each of their expectations to a T: becoming the best at a unique talent (violin), earn stellar grades to become valedictorian, and earn acceptance to Ivy Leagues. Even though Patti's work shows for itself and she is surrounded by hard-earned successes, this came at a cost to her relative social isolation and lack of adolescent experiences. I'm no stranger to this lifestyle either.
In Patti Yoon's senior year, she finally understands what the culmination of all her efforts should amount to: her happiness. Not her parents' happiness, or her bank accounts. You don't have to be the absolute cream of the crop to feel content with your place in life. Will good things come of hard work regardless? Of course. But putting yourself down because you aren't as academically strong as the valedictorian or as technically talented as the concertmaster isn't going to help anyone in the long run. The way some parents treat their children twists their mindset into thinking like this, no matter how hard they reason with themselves. Even so, you can't sacrifice happiness for success. It's not worth it. A life lacking personal contentment and happiness is not sustainable for anyone, no matter what your parents/family have to say about it. Good Enough is a perfect example of how difficult and debilitating it can be for ambitious teens aiming to achieve seemingly-impossible goals, and Patti Yoon shows us that, as long as we're following our instincts and aim to be happy first and foremost, we'll be absolutely fine.
February 27, 2013
I can't begin to list why I love this book.
The racial inequities, the complete lack of cliches throughout the whole novel, the absolute reality of high school, and the brilliance of how as a musician, it really shines through.
I love this book. I'd shove it in everyone's face if I could - everyone who'd GET it, you know?
Oh my gosh. Book starts off with music.
I AM a violist - and I DO get the viola jokes. Made me laugh. And I GET the Top 10 Reasons For Bad Auditions - WHY? Because it's happened to me. Oh, it happens to me.
Yoo completely, utterly captures the heart of a musician in her writing, and I felt like I was reading my own thoughts, my own feelings, my own break downs. In the music sense, of course. This is crazy, because I HAVE sat in a room, waiting for my audition, smiling when the person next to me isn't as good as I am. I HAVE been distracted by beautiful sounds coming from a boy and his instrument, and I HAVE forgotten my music on my stand in my floating thoughts of the boy I just saw. And I HAVE completely blown my audition because there was a boy in the room who was just giving me all these weird feelings, and I HAVE been playing something completely memorized and totally lost my place because the boy's eyes popped into my head. I HAVE started shaking in a performance that I seriously felt like people thought I didn't know how to use vibrato or tremolo. And OH MY GOSH, I HAVE sat with a boy who's able to solo so well, and wondered what on earth I was going to do. I HAVE played a scale as my improvisation. That WHOLE SCENE with Ben and his guitar, in his room, jamming and knowing absolutely nothing but the technical chord progressions - THAT IS MY LIFE.
THAT IS STILL MY LIFE.
This is crazy. I totally understand not having time, and practicing, and feeling completely disgusting next to female perfection. And while my parents aren't pressuring like Patti's, I still got it, because I have so many friends in that position.
I love how they don't get together! I love it. So realistic. So true...
I have no words. I can't begin to explain or justify my five stars. It's just that there's something exhilarating about reading your life down to the detail in a published copy...
The racial inequities, the complete lack of cliches throughout the whole novel, the absolute reality of high school, and the brilliance of how as a musician, it really shines through.
I love this book. I'd shove it in everyone's face if I could - everyone who'd GET it, you know?
Oh my gosh. Book starts off with music.
I AM a violist - and I DO get the viola jokes. Made me laugh. And I GET the Top 10 Reasons For Bad Auditions - WHY? Because it's happened to me. Oh, it happens to me.
Yoo completely, utterly captures the heart of a musician in her writing, and I felt like I was reading my own thoughts, my own feelings, my own break downs. In the music sense, of course. This is crazy, because I HAVE sat in a room, waiting for my audition, smiling when the person next to me isn't as good as I am. I HAVE been distracted by beautiful sounds coming from a boy and his instrument, and I HAVE forgotten my music on my stand in my floating thoughts of the boy I just saw. And I HAVE completely blown my audition because there was a boy in the room who was just giving me all these weird feelings, and I HAVE been playing something completely memorized and totally lost my place because the boy's eyes popped into my head. I HAVE started shaking in a performance that I seriously felt like people thought I didn't know how to use vibrato or tremolo. And OH MY GOSH, I HAVE sat with a boy who's able to solo so well, and wondered what on earth I was going to do. I HAVE played a scale as my improvisation. That WHOLE SCENE with Ben and his guitar, in his room, jamming and knowing absolutely nothing but the technical chord progressions - THAT IS MY LIFE.
THAT IS STILL MY LIFE.
This is crazy. I totally understand not having time, and practicing, and feeling completely disgusting next to female perfection. And while my parents aren't pressuring like Patti's, I still got it, because I have so many friends in that position.
I love how they don't get together! I love it. So realistic. So true...
I have no words. I can't begin to explain or justify my five stars. It's just that there's something exhilarating about reading your life down to the detail in a published copy...
February 29, 2012
This book started out really great. The fact that this book is about the "typical Asian parents" wanting their daughter to be perfect was really intriguing. Towards the middle, I started to think that I knew what was going to happen, but suddenly the book started taking many interesting twists and turns. I couldn't put the book down once I had reached the middle because it had gotten so tempting to turn the page to see what happens next. I also liked that it was really quick to read even though it looks like a pretty long book. The character seemed like a really kind, shy person which made the book really entertaining to read. This may seem pretty surprising to many people who have read the book, but the ending was so powerful it made me tear up, literally! The ending was probably my most favorite part of the book, even though the middle was so enjoyable because there were so many twists and turns. There was nothing that I really disliked about the book! I absolutely loved the way it was written and told and less is more in this case. I highly recommend this book!
October 7, 2015
I liked this book. It was easy to read and the story was interesting. Also, the fact that the main character, Patti, is a Korean made me like this book better(since I am Korean as well).
I liked that the ending was not a love story, and instead it was a family ending with their problem solved. My favourite part was when Patti said happiness and success is different. It made me think about what is true happiness. I think happiness and success is not entirely different stories, but since Patti's parents gave her so much pressure, she might think that way.
I liked that the ending was not a love story, and instead it was a family ending with their problem solved. My favourite part was when Patti said happiness and success is different. It made me think about what is true happiness. I think happiness and success is not entirely different stories, but since Patti's parents gave her so much pressure, she might think that way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2018
I can't remember if I read this at the end of middle school or the beginning of high school. Even though I read this centuries ago, I see a lot of the details so clearly.
I remember,
- the demotion to second chair
- the ( with hindsight ) rather frivolous love interest
- the pressure from her Korean parents, to get into Harvard, Yale, or Princeton and play an instrument and do everything possible to get a good education so that she doesn't have to suffer the way her parents did
- the sense of belonging her family felt at the Korean church where everyone is Korean and no one makes fun of the foods non-American foods
- the pressure on Korean children to be smarter than or do better ( in school - better grades and have the most college acceptances from top schools, life, or best job ) than the children of their parents' friends or the children of their relatives
- the shame her mother felt at her first bake sale and her determination to do things right . . . or more so to be accepted in this new place where nothing is familiar
- the way I related to being the American born offspring of poor immigrant parents who's English is hard to understand, who work so inhumanely hard
- the pressure to do well on SATs
- the struggle to define who you are in spite of who your parents want you to be
- the struggle to show your parents that you respect them and want to do your best but Harvard Yale and Princeton are not the only things people live for
- the struggle of getting more freedom from parents' strict rules
I remember finally learning the origin of the word Madea, which surprisingly is not some arbitrary invention of Tyler Perry - who is famous for portraying Black Americans as overly emotional, foolish, ignorant, ghetto and the long list of fictional generalizations about Black people perpetuated by and believed by those all over the world who hold characteristics of white people as the standard for what is good [ i.e. long straight hair, no hips, thin, large light eyes, folded eyelids, the lighter your skin the "better" or "prettier" you are ]. But that's a long, indignation inducing conversation I'd rather not have.
The more I dwell on Good Enough the more I remember how much I enjoyed learning about Korean culture, the pressure of being a model minority, trying to show your immigrant parents that you love and respect them and appreciate the sacrifices they've made but there is more to a child than studies - not so that studies would cease, but so that time can be allowed for creative expression.
What Stands Out Among My Memories of Paula Yoo's Good Enough
I might have the book wrong, now that I've found this on Goodreads, I plan to reread it at my earliest convenience . . .
But I think the protagonist's father describes how he was able to immigrate to America. This incredibly moving part of the novel might spoil people who wish to read Good Enough so I'll hide it here ->
Even though this moment may have been a sentence in the novel, a brief paragraph of dialogue, it had a really profound impact on me. I wish I could transmit this message, this truth to every adolescent in existence so that they have an accurate impression of what the road to success looks like. If such things also peak your interest, I would HIGHLY recommend the Netflix Series "Hello My Twenties!". It is a Korean show, but there are English subtitles and I think it's something every youth and every millennial should watch. Particularly focusing on the character Jin Myung. If you're looking for the show in Korea, I think the English translation for the Korean title is called Age of Youth. Here are links:
Hello My Twenties (Wikipedia)
Age of Youth (aka Hello My Twenties!) Website
Hello My Twenties! (Netflix)
I remember,
- the demotion to second chair
- the ( with hindsight ) rather frivolous love interest
- the pressure from her Korean parents, to get into Harvard, Yale, or Princeton and play an instrument and do everything possible to get a good education so that she doesn't have to suffer the way her parents did
- the sense of belonging her family felt at the Korean church where everyone is Korean and no one makes fun of the foods non-American foods
- the pressure on Korean children to be smarter than or do better ( in school - better grades and have the most college acceptances from top schools, life, or best job ) than the children of their parents' friends or the children of their relatives
- the shame her mother felt at her first bake sale and her determination to do things right . . . or more so to be accepted in this new place where nothing is familiar
- the way I related to being the American born offspring of poor immigrant parents who's English is hard to understand, who work so inhumanely hard
- the pressure to do well on SATs
- the struggle to define who you are in spite of who your parents want you to be
- the struggle to show your parents that you respect them and want to do your best but Harvard Yale and Princeton are not the only things people live for
- the struggle of getting more freedom from parents' strict rules
I remember finally learning the origin of the word Madea, which surprisingly is not some arbitrary invention of Tyler Perry - who is famous for portraying Black Americans as overly emotional, foolish, ignorant, ghetto and the long list of fictional generalizations about Black people perpetuated by and believed by those all over the world who hold characteristics of white people as the standard for what is good [ i.e. long straight hair, no hips, thin, large light eyes, folded eyelids, the lighter your skin the "better" or "prettier" you are ]. But that's a long, indignation inducing conversation I'd rather not have.
The more I dwell on Good Enough the more I remember how much I enjoyed learning about Korean culture, the pressure of being a model minority, trying to show your immigrant parents that you love and respect them and appreciate the sacrifices they've made but there is more to a child than studies - not so that studies would cease, but so that time can be allowed for creative expression.
What Stands Out Among My Memories of Paula Yoo's Good Enough
I might have the book wrong, now that I've found this on Goodreads, I plan to reread it at my earliest convenience . . .
But I think the protagonist's father describes how he was able to immigrate to America. This incredibly moving part of the novel might spoil people who wish to read Good Enough so I'll hide it here ->
Even though this moment may have been a sentence in the novel, a brief paragraph of dialogue, it had a really profound impact on me. I wish I could transmit this message, this truth to every adolescent in existence so that they have an accurate impression of what the road to success looks like. If such things also peak your interest, I would HIGHLY recommend the Netflix Series "Hello My Twenties!". It is a Korean show, but there are English subtitles and I think it's something every youth and every millennial should watch. Particularly focusing on the character Jin Myung. If you're looking for the show in Korea, I think the English translation for the Korean title is called Age of Youth. Here are links:
Hello My Twenties (Wikipedia)
Age of Youth (aka Hello My Twenties!) Website
Hello My Twenties! (Netflix)
May 17, 2020
Cute. As you all know by now, I'm always on the lookout for more Asian representation in books -- especially ones for children. This one was over-the-top in terms of stereotypes. Patti is a Korean-American student who loves playing the violin. She's among the best in the state and also valedictorian with her best friend. I'm a bit conflicted here because such characters are both real and stereotypical (as with all stereotypes). Do we need more such characters in books though? Probably not, but much of the book was enjoyable to me because it was so relatable. I loved her little church youth group in particular. I mean... lock-ins! I remember those so fondly. There were many moments that made me chuckle because they resonated. My parents were not as flat, however, because they had a more rounded understanding of what "success" looks like. Patti's parents are too much. Still, I get it. All that hard work in high school. The crushes and weekends at church.
All this said, the most notable moments for me were the common racist moments. From Stephanie dressing up as a Geisha for Halloween and shuffling her feet with a horrible accent... sigh... to her mother's irritating complaints about Patti's father. The assumptions about his language and... gosh, it's too frustrating to write about. All that said, I've seen and experienced such insults and they hurt the most when they're aimed at our parents.
I got this book because it's a YA book written by a Korean-American woman. I am still on the fence about giving this to my kids though. A large part of me wants to give this away to a used bookstore instead, mostly because Patti doesn't like her Korean face. Sigh. That alone is enough to make me want to get it out of my house. Still, a lot of it is relatable and good too. Sigh. It seems to be written more for my generation than for my kids'. TBD.
All this said, the most notable moments for me were the common racist moments. From Stephanie dressing up as a Geisha for Halloween and shuffling her feet with a horrible accent... sigh... to her mother's irritating complaints about Patti's father. The assumptions about his language and... gosh, it's too frustrating to write about. All that said, I've seen and experienced such insults and they hurt the most when they're aimed at our parents.
I got this book because it's a YA book written by a Korean-American woman. I am still on the fence about giving this to my kids though. A large part of me wants to give this away to a used bookstore instead, mostly because Patti doesn't like her Korean face. Sigh. That alone is enough to make me want to get it out of my house. Still, a lot of it is relatable and good too. Sigh. It seems to be written more for my generation than for my kids'. TBD.
September 14, 2021
Good Enough was such a great book, I think the reason i loved it so much was the fact that i could relate to it so much, and i feel like there are many people's life around the world this book mirrors.
The story revolves around the main character Patti Yoon (who totally had nothing to do with the author) and a typical coming of age story. She is the typical (not to be stereotypical) 'smart-asian-goody-two-shoes', she's all state concert master, she is always first violin, she gets perfect sat scores, she takes all AP classes and maintains straight A's in every one of them, and she is top of her class, she is aiming for "HARVARDYALEPRINCETON" the holy trinity and every other ivy, and she doesn't talk to boys. That last one wasn't too hard for Patti, unlike other girls she never cared much for makeup, clothes, hair, and definitely not boyfriends - until she met Ben.
Ben is the typical jock captain of the track team, winner of cross-country, plays the guitar, and is crazy good looking. He is the exact opposite of what Patti's parents want for her, but he was her kryptonite.
I think this is such a great book and i definitely suggest it to everyone who feels like their parents put a little too much pressure on them.
The story revolves around the main character Patti Yoon (who totally had nothing to do with the author) and a typical coming of age story. She is the typical (not to be stereotypical) 'smart-asian-goody-two-shoes', she's all state concert master, she is always first violin, she gets perfect sat scores, she takes all AP classes and maintains straight A's in every one of them, and she is top of her class, she is aiming for "HARVARDYALEPRINCETON" the holy trinity and every other ivy, and she doesn't talk to boys. That last one wasn't too hard for Patti, unlike other girls she never cared much for makeup, clothes, hair, and definitely not boyfriends - until she met Ben.
Ben is the typical jock captain of the track team, winner of cross-country, plays the guitar, and is crazy good looking. He is the exact opposite of what Patti's parents want for her, but he was her kryptonite.
I think this is such a great book and i definitely suggest it to everyone who feels like their parents put a little too much pressure on them.
September 3, 2019
This was an amazing book. It speaks of the troubles of a pressured senior in high school, her parents forcing her to attend difficult SAT camps and become concertmaster of the All-State orchestra every year. The protagonist is expected to be accepted into all the ivy-league schools with a perfect academic history. However, the protagonist wants to apply to Juilliard school and chase down her dreams to become a musician. I can connect this character to Jonas from "The Giver" by Lois Lowry because their parents expect the best from them. I would recommend this book to people who like realistic fiction.
June 14, 2021
Good, but pretty stereotypical in my opinion. I would like to see a different point of view for Koreans! I loved the music aspect of the book though!! Overall 4/5 stars because I enjoyed it but it was a little to predictable to me.
September 28, 2016
I really liked this book. The ending was amazing and i wish it didn't end right there and i wish she continued it. I also liked that she ended it on a cliff hanger. But other than that i liked it.
October 19, 2011
Summary: Patti Yoon is the daughter of two Korean parents who strive for her to be the best she can be. In a world of concerts, SAT prep classes, Korean Church, and all AP classes, Patti is expected to get into “HARVARDYALEPRINCETON”. Patti is struggling during her senior year of high school. She is in love, wants to possibly go to Julliard, and just wants to be happy. She has to lie, sneak out, and make mistakes in order to discover what it takes to make her truly happy. She has to find a way to get her parents to trust her and let her make her own choices.
Opinion: This coming of age story focuses on a Korean girl with the “Tiger Parents” that we read about in Newsweek. The author does an incredible job of portraying the parents as overbearing and unreasonable. It isn’t until about ¾ of the way through the book during a confrontation with a classmate’s mother, that you truly see an insight into why her parents are like they are. You slowly learn about their lives in Korea and why they want their daughter to succeed. Through this book you learn a lot about Korean culture and the motivation for Patti. You like seeing her mature into the person she is becoming, and how she is accepting her parents’ ideals, but finding her own path.
I really like this book because as a gifted teacher, I see this type of parenting all of the time. My kids are constantly trying to figure out who they are, while trying to balance the pressure of being perfect. Even though my kids are only in 3rd/4th grade, we work on how important social growth is with academic growth.
Grade Level: 7+
Background Information: None needed
School Ideas:
- College Applications: Learn how to apply for college
- Classical Music lessons, research composers from the story
- Listen to the music from Ben and compare it to the composers in the story
- Let kids try SAT practice tests
Opinion: This coming of age story focuses on a Korean girl with the “Tiger Parents” that we read about in Newsweek. The author does an incredible job of portraying the parents as overbearing and unreasonable. It isn’t until about ¾ of the way through the book during a confrontation with a classmate’s mother, that you truly see an insight into why her parents are like they are. You slowly learn about their lives in Korea and why they want their daughter to succeed. Through this book you learn a lot about Korean culture and the motivation for Patti. You like seeing her mature into the person she is becoming, and how she is accepting her parents’ ideals, but finding her own path.
I really like this book because as a gifted teacher, I see this type of parenting all of the time. My kids are constantly trying to figure out who they are, while trying to balance the pressure of being perfect. Even though my kids are only in 3rd/4th grade, we work on how important social growth is with academic growth.
Grade Level: 7+
Background Information: None needed
School Ideas:
- College Applications: Learn how to apply for college
- Classical Music lessons, research composers from the story
- Listen to the music from Ben and compare it to the composers in the story
- Let kids try SAT practice tests
August 19, 2011
I need the ability to half star things:) I would go 3.5 stars
I thought that this was a great book. Especially for those high school kids that feel the pressure not only of the need to succeed but to be able to please the parents as well.
(Excerpt from book)
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.*
This is the fictional story of Patti Yoon a first generation Korean American girl. Patti's parents expect nothing less than the best from their daughter. So winning assistant concertmaster in her All-State violin competition and earning less than 2300 on her SATs is simply not good enough. That will not get her into an Ivy league school. But Patti discovers that there might be more to life than Ivy League. (Namely boys, music, and who knows what else)
Sometimes this book made me feel that as a parent I need to expect more from my kids. Yet most of the time I felt the overwhelming pressure of the need to succeed and achieve from those that may have immigrated to the USA hoping for the true American Dream. I saw the pressure of looking and sounding different and how people were judged because of ethnicity. I felt the pride from achievement and how it can give someone the ability to hold their head high because of who you are not what your ethnicity is. I loved the humor in this book, the insight into a different race and more...Overall good read!
I thought that this was a great book. Especially for those high school kids that feel the pressure not only of the need to succeed but to be able to please the parents as well.
(Excerpt from book)
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.*
This is the fictional story of Patti Yoon a first generation Korean American girl. Patti's parents expect nothing less than the best from their daughter. So winning assistant concertmaster in her All-State violin competition and earning less than 2300 on her SATs is simply not good enough. That will not get her into an Ivy league school. But Patti discovers that there might be more to life than Ivy League. (Namely boys, music, and who knows what else)
Sometimes this book made me feel that as a parent I need to expect more from my kids. Yet most of the time I felt the overwhelming pressure of the need to succeed and achieve from those that may have immigrated to the USA hoping for the true American Dream. I saw the pressure of looking and sounding different and how people were judged because of ethnicity. I felt the pride from achievement and how it can give someone the ability to hold their head high because of who you are not what your ethnicity is. I loved the humor in this book, the insight into a different race and more...Overall good read!
October 19, 2011
Patti’s life as a high-school senior is comprised of playing the violin, studying for the SAT’s, meeting a cute new guy at school, and trying to live up to the expectations of her Korean parents, who want, more than anything, for her to go to an Ivy League college. She has a passion for music, but knows her parents feel that life as a musician in unstable. In this story, Patti deals with trying to fit in, while still holding on to her Korean culture. She also faces the difficulties of trying to make her parents happy, while figuring out what will make her happy. Ultimately, she learns the differences between success, happiness, and all aspect of being good enough.
Paula Yoo does an excellent job of bringing humor to the trials and tribulations of teenage life. She has created a character that is easy to relate to because she faces the pressures that many high school students have to deal with. The music piece is also fairly large in this story, and Yoo explains related terminology well for us layman. The story was perfectly entertaining, while focusing on the themes of Korean culture, pressures of high school, fitting in, music, and being true to oneself. This is a great read for high school students! From a parent's perspective, we are taken into the life of a straight A student and the pressures kids have to deal with in trying to please their parents. It really made me think about the impact of our parental pressure on our kids.
Paula Yoo does an excellent job of bringing humor to the trials and tribulations of teenage life. She has created a character that is easy to relate to because she faces the pressures that many high school students have to deal with. The music piece is also fairly large in this story, and Yoo explains related terminology well for us layman. The story was perfectly entertaining, while focusing on the themes of Korean culture, pressures of high school, fitting in, music, and being true to oneself. This is a great read for high school students! From a parent's perspective, we are taken into the life of a straight A student and the pressures kids have to deal with in trying to please their parents. It really made me think about the impact of our parental pressure on our kids.
October 16, 2011
"HarvardYalePrinceton". That is the goal of Patti Yoon, the protagonist of Paula Yoo's novel "Good Enough". Or at least it's the goal of her parents, and therefore her goal as the "Perfect Korean Daughter". But as she begins her senior year in high school, Patti falls for cute trumpet player Ben, and begins to re-evaluate her life. In the end Patti does not get the boy, but she learns an important lesson about being herself and making herself happy. I couldn't put this book down. Not only does it seem to capture the reality of high school, it's funny and includes several recipes for traditional Korean dishes made with Spam. It would be perfect for middle school to high school age students. This would be a great SSR book, especially for overachievers and seniors dealing with college admissions. It would also work well in a unit on immigration, to help illuminate the fine line that 1st generation Americans walk between following their parents' culture and fitting into mainstream American life. "Good Enough" received Honorable Mention for Text in Youth Literature for the 2008-2009 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.
May 22, 2012
I did not care for this book very much, as you can tell from my rating. The only reason I bothered to do a review on it at all was because I neede to give warning... and a bit of credit. Yes, there were parts I liked.
I didn't like:
~The not-main characters
~The mood
~The book in general (no offense)
I liked:
~The main character (sometimes, simply because i can relate)
That's it.
I wanted to like this book. I really, really did. I even read it twice, I wantedto like it so much. But the ends just didn't meet. *sigh* I really didn't like the main male character (the trumpet player or something) because he was so snobbish to me. I didn't like how the main character, Patti, reacted to a lot of things. I didn't like this book, but I gave it two stars for effort and, well, some parts made me laugh. Reading this book wouldn't be a TOTAL waste of time, but there are better ways of spending your time, examples: skydiving, playing games with your siblings/imaginary friends, or just reading a better book. Get what I'm saying?
I didn't like:
~The not-main characters
~The mood
~The book in general (no offense)
I liked:
~The main character (sometimes, simply because i can relate)
That's it.
I wanted to like this book. I really, really did. I even read it twice, I wantedto like it so much. But the ends just didn't meet. *sigh* I really didn't like the main male character (the trumpet player or something) because he was so snobbish to me. I didn't like how the main character, Patti, reacted to a lot of things. I didn't like this book, but I gave it two stars for effort and, well, some parts made me laugh. Reading this book wouldn't be a TOTAL waste of time, but there are better ways of spending your time, examples: skydiving, playing games with your siblings/imaginary friends, or just reading a better book. Get what I'm saying?
May 24, 2015
This spoke to me SO much, both as a musician and as someone remembering what it was like applying to colleges, as well as someone who is dating a Korean and has many asian friends in general. This was perfect. I wouldn't change a thing. In many ways it reminds me of Daria Snadowsky's Anatomy of a Boyfriend in that I wish I could have read this my senior year because it would have been PERFECT for me (although I didn't know many asians then - we had like two Chinese families in my school and that was it. Although my youth orchestra was a totally different story, so there is that.)
I also SUPER loved how something was handled - it was done truthfully and it was just handled really well. It's something you don't see happen very often in YA books, and I don't think I can think of a single one that handled it NEARLY as well. (And I won't say what because I don't want to spoil it at all. You need to come to it not knowing even a hint about it or it doesn't work as well.)
Basically I want to put this into the hand of every high school junior and senior ever.
I also SUPER loved how something was handled - it was done truthfully and it was just handled really well. It's something you don't see happen very often in YA books, and I don't think I can think of a single one that handled it NEARLY as well. (And I won't say what because I don't want to spoil it at all. You need to come to it not knowing even a hint about it or it doesn't work as well.)
Basically I want to put this into the hand of every high school junior and senior ever.
November 27, 2008
In many ways, this is a typical book about parental pressure for overachievement and academic excellence. Patti Yoon plays the violin, takes 7 AP courses, and lives her life to please her Korean immigrant parents and earn admission into HarvardYalePrinceton (one word, always yelped in this order).
However, Yoo's style of writing ensures that it never comes off as hackneyed (who knew those SAT words would come in handy?). I enjoyed the lists, tips, disclaimers and recipes, but I was most impressed with a scene in which Patti has an inner dialogue and revelation about her father while standing in line at the store. If you are a second generation Asian American, you have no doubt also experienced the painfully uncomfortable feeling of seeing someone denigrate your parent based on a mispronounced L or a dropped preposition.
I couldn't put this novel down and insisted on reading passages of the book aloud to share Yoo's humor with others.
However, Yoo's style of writing ensures that it never comes off as hackneyed (who knew those SAT words would come in handy?). I enjoyed the lists, tips, disclaimers and recipes, but I was most impressed with a scene in which Patti has an inner dialogue and revelation about her father while standing in line at the store. If you are a second generation Asian American, you have no doubt also experienced the painfully uncomfortable feeling of seeing someone denigrate your parent based on a mispronounced L or a dropped preposition.
I couldn't put this novel down and insisted on reading passages of the book aloud to share Yoo's humor with others.
October 13, 2011
Patti is a young Korean American teen who is struggling with the need to please her parents and the desire to do what she loves. This is a great coming of age story that is filled with humor, romance, school pressures and parental challenges which allows every high school senior the ability to relate to her. Although relatively easy to read, this published by Harper Teen book is definitely geared to the high school audience. I think the pressure and angst that she suffers would be lost on a middle school reader. This would be a great “stress relief” book for students who are approaching SAT’s and College entrance essays. This would also be a nice book club book that would spawn off great discussions of empathy towards Patti. Although not purely biographical, I love the author’s note about how the similarities between her and Patti are purely coincidental. She burnt her left ear, not her right and so on.
November 12, 2014
The book “Good Enough” talks about the life of a teenager named Patti Yoon. She is a Korean-American girl. She lives with her parents and was raised with the Korean culture. She and her parents have a strong idea about being perfect in everything, which is what good enough means. The book shows us too about American culture and how difficult it was for Patti to be part of it. I liked this book because we can learn many things about the Korean and American cultures. Furthermore I identified with many of the situations that Patti and her parents had. This book is interesting and fun and I recommend it to teenagers because this book can help them to understand the situations that many teenagers experience in high school. And it is good for parents too because they can learn about the importance of the relationship between parents and children.
November 12, 2014
Review Of Good Enough
The book "Good Enough" is about teenaged student named Patti. She is Korean-American, and she trying to get into college. Her parents had great expectations of her that she will get high score on SATS and will get admission into Harvard or Princeton University. This book is about expectation from her parents that she is good enough to do it. While I was reading, I learned a lot of things about what you really like and what you parents expect from you. Therefore you need to balance between both what you have to work hard for and what you want to achieve and respect what you have. I really liked this book because it encouraged us to work hard and get achievement. I want to suggest this book to my friends because our parents have same expectations as patti's parents.
The book "Good Enough" is about teenaged student named Patti. She is Korean-American, and she trying to get into college. Her parents had great expectations of her that she will get high score on SATS and will get admission into Harvard or Princeton University. This book is about expectation from her parents that she is good enough to do it. While I was reading, I learned a lot of things about what you really like and what you parents expect from you. Therefore you need to balance between both what you have to work hard for and what you want to achieve and respect what you have. I really liked this book because it encouraged us to work hard and get achievement. I want to suggest this book to my friends because our parents have same expectations as patti's parents.
January 18, 2009
Delightful and authentic (though the writing maybe slipped some near the end, as if the author was unsure how to bring the story to a close). This story will feel familiar to anyone who competed in high school music contests or knows the process of competitive college applications. It also read like a modern-day version of my beloved 50s/60s YA books, so many of which deal with girls who have problems with loving parents and aren't really sure what to do after high school.
This book will make you hungry; I ate half a jar of kimchi in the middle of reading, and I think it's best to have some on hand before you begin.
This book will make you hungry; I ate half a jar of kimchi in the middle of reading, and I think it's best to have some on hand before you begin.
July 25, 2015
I really enjoyed this book, as a violinist myself. I found this book incredibly relatable and I know others will too. I love the way the author put her own experiences into this story, and the way she described music and how it felt. Everything about this book was purely realistic as well. As a side note, I was somewhat glad Patti didn't end up with Ben. It showed that boys don't have to be your significant other every time. The author captures the feeling music brings really well and translates it to words. I recommend this book to everyone, especially those who love music.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2016
I really liked this book because, it is about a good girl that plays Violin, and she is very confident in getting into a good college and, starting a life on new soil. But when it comes to auditioning for a symphonic orchestra she gets detracted by a boy, and this boy is a trumpet player. Then she meets this boy and they start to hang out and eventually start a band together.
I would recommend this book to people who like a good music book, that has people trying to concur their dreams, and people who believe that anything is possible. :)
I would recommend this book to people who like a good music book, that has people trying to concur their dreams, and people who believe that anything is possible. :)
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