"A heartwarming, sparkling romantic comedy about what happens when what your heart wants and what your parents want don't match...Melissa de la Cruz enchants and delights in her usual style. Completely unputdownable!"—Sandhya Menon, New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi
"A refreshingly modern love story, 29 Dates serves up a funny and heartfelt rom-com about finding love and figuring out life on your own terms."—Maurene Goo, author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love and The Way You Make Me Feel
"29 Dates is a sweet, unique take on the high-school rom-com...cinematic and inviting. This latest by de la Cruz is perfect for fans of Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before."—Booklist
"A surprise ending brings the story to a satisfying close that will thrill fans of Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2014). A surefire hit wherever lighthearted romances are popular."—Kirkus Reviews
11/05/2018
Ji-Su’s being an average student at a highly prestigious Seoul high school isn’t good enough for her South Korean parents. They’re also pushing her to get into a top college and go on a series of seons (blind dates arranged by a matchmaker). Much to Ji-Su’s dismay and without much warning, they send her to San Francisco to attend a slightly less competitive school for her senior year, where they hope she can raise her grades enough to stand out among college applicants. Ji-Su enjoys more freedom in America, but in matters of the heart, her parents continue to hold the reins: her seons mostly prove as disappointing as her ill-fated fling with a fickle boy from her new school. The story is interspersed with dialogue from Ji-Su’s 29 dates, adding structure to the tale and conveying the awkwardness of early relationships. De la Cruz (Someone to Love) offers a lighthearted romance about a heroine struggling to please her parents and be true to herself. Ages 12–up. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts. (Jan.)
12/01/2018
Gr 8 Up{amp}mdash;Korean teen Ji-Su Kim is not performing as well in school as her parents would like as they expect her to get into a top-tier university in Korea or the U.S. Without her knowledge, her parents enroll her in a California high school for her senior year. At first, Ji-Su is despondent about leaving her friends and her family behind. However, she quickly immerses herself into the culture at her new school as she makes new friends and begins to participate in extracurricular activities. She has been set up with blind dates, called seons, by a Korean matchmaker. These dates don't end when she moves to California because Ms. Moon has many contacts in the Korean American community. The chapters alternate between what is currently happening in the protagonist's life with the transcripts of the conversations she has with each of her dates, starting with the first one in Korea. Though romance is an underlying theme, Ji-Su has no interest in the boys she meets on the seons but does see possible love connections with classmates at her new school. Her interactions with her contemporaries seem realistic, but the depiction of her overbearing but well-meaning parents feel familiar and without much nuance. VERDICT This novel will please teens looking for a light read. Give to fans of Sandhya Menon's When Dimple Met Rishi and Jenny Han's books.{amp}mdash;Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science {amp}amp; Technology Academy, Avondale, LA
Listeners who have dealt with strong parental expectations will empathize with Jisu, whose South Korean parents decide to send her to a school in the U.S. for her final year of high school. Narrator Greta Jung captures Jisu’s efforts to prove she is worthy of her parents’ ambitions for her by improving her study habits and attending a series of seons—dates organized by a matchmaker. But two boys start to pay attention to her at school—and that is an enticing distraction. Jung’s narration, seamlessly integrating Korean and American accents, helps dramatize Jisu’s attempts to to acclimate herself to the U.S. Jung also excels at depicting the nervous, stuffy, and even flamboyant young men who attend the seons. E.J.F. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Listeners who have dealt with strong parental expectations will empathize with Jisu, whose South Korean parents decide to send her to a school in the U.S. for her final year of high school. Narrator Greta Jung captures Jisu’s efforts to prove she is worthy of her parents’ ambitions for her by improving her study habits and attending a series of seons—dates organized by a matchmaker. But two boys start to pay attention to her at school—and that is an enticing distraction. Jung’s narration, seamlessly integrating Korean and American accents, helps dramatize Jisu’s attempts to to acclimate herself to the U.S. Jung also excels at depicting the nervous, stuffy, and even flamboyant young men who attend the seons. E.J.F. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
2018-10-15
A South Korean high school student spending her senior year in the United States navigates a new school, dating, and college pressures.
Ji-su, who is enduring a succession of blind dates set up for her by her ambitious parents through a matchmaker, suddenly finds herself attending a private school in San Francisco, something her parents hope will help her stand out when she applies to college. Although she is heartbroken to leave behind her beloved besties, Euni and Min, she soon makes new friends, including Filipino-American heartthrob Austin; popular, high-achieving Korean-American Dave; and confident, friendly, Lebanese-American Hiba, who becomes a close friend. Ji-su continues going on arranged blind dates in California but also experiences feelings of attraction toward both Austin and Dave, all while applying to (and waiting to hear from) highly competitive colleges. The conceit of the book—following Ji-su through 29 blind dates over the course of her senior year—helps the plot move along swiftly and introduces readers to a wide variety of Korean boys with different personalities and interests, helping to break stereotypes about Asian males. Characters of a range of ethnicities populate the book, and the cultural details about life in Korea are realistically drawn and impressive in their accuracy. A surprise ending brings the story to a satisfying close that will thrill fans of Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2014).
A surefire hit wherever lighthearted romances are popular. (author's note) (Fiction. 12-18)
