Korea – Mom Read It

A Magical Girl Retires, by Park Seolyeon/Translated by Anton Hur, (Apr 2024, HarperVia), $21.99, ISBN: 9780063373266

Ages 13+

Okay, hear me out: yes, the protagonist in this story, translated from the original Korean, is 29 years old, but this is such a fun story that teens who love manga, particularly the magical girl genre, will love this as much as your older readers. We start with a 29-year-old woman who’s at the end of her rope. She lost her job during the pandemic and she’s deeply in credit card debt. Standing at Seoul’s Mapo Bridge, she’s ready to call it quits, until a woman dressed in white stops her. The woman is Ah Roa, and she’s a magical girl – in this world, magical girls (think Sailor Moon, if you’re not familiar with the term) and Ah Roa is is on a mission to locate the greatest magical girl of all – and she’s pretty sure our protagonist is that girl. After a visit to the Magical Girl Union’s job fair, our protagonist gets a magical talisman and makes some new acquaintances, but being a magical girl is hard work! They have to take classes, train, and worry about climate change and sustainability. And when a powerful foe makes their presence known, her abilities are going to be tested. There are black-and-white illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, and the story is just fun. Park Seolyeon works with the classic magical girl tropes and puts a light spin on them, giving readers a feel-good adventure. At less than 200 pages, this is a perfect weekend read. Channel your inner magical girl and add this one to your collections; talk it up with your new adults and your tired, 40-hour-a-week desk jockeys who miss when a good afternoon meant putting on their magical girl talismans and running around outside.

For your new adult and adult readers, pair A Magical Girl Retires with Sarah Kuhn’s Heroine Complex series.

When Spring Comes to the DMZ, by Uk-Bae Lee, (March 2019, Plough Publishing), $17.95, ISBN: 9780874869729

Ages 4-8

Established in 1953, The DMZ – the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea – has, over time, become a nature preserve, with plants and animals living and thriving amid the razor wire, soldiers, and military machines. When the Spring Comes to the DMZ introduces readers to the DMZ throughout the seasons, illustrating how wildlife lives almost effortlessly – razor wire ever-present in the background, husks of man-made machinery now home to animal families – and through the eyes of a boy and his grandfather, who visit the DMZ so grandfather can look out at his former home with bittersweet longing. It’s a reaffirmation that life goes on for some, but for others, that life is painfully halted in place, while years pass.

The artwork is beautifully subdued, with soft greens and browns dominating the pages. The story is told in simple, sweet, almost heartbreaking statements: “When spring comes to the DMZ, green shoots spring up in the meadows./But you cannot go there because the razor wire fence is blocking the way”. This spread, viewed as through a telescope, puts us in grandfather’s place, and communicates some of the heartache he must feel; having home be so close, yet unreachable.

When Spring Comes to the DMZ is a book that works for social studies and current events read-alouds, and would pair nicely with similar books about refugees and immigrants, including Anne Sibley O’Brien’s Someone New and I’m New Here and Bao Phi’s A Different Pond. Reading When Spring Comes to the DMZ alongside Nicola Davies’ When War Came allows for a discussion about the aftermath of war; while DMZ doesn’t mention the Korean War in the story itself, the back matter fills in necessary information, along with an exhortation for peace. There is little in print for children about the North Korea and the DMZ, making this an important book to include in social studies and current events collections.

When Spring Comes to the DMZ has a starred review from Kirkus. Shelf Awareness has a wonderfully detailed review.