Stand Up, Yumi Chung!

All Yumi Chung wants is to be a stand-up comedian, but her immigrant parents who have sacrificed so much so that she can attend a private school don't understand her passion. In this funny and heartwarming story, Yumi accidentally stumbles into a comedy summer camp by impersonating another student, while juggling summer studies for the SSAT, helping her parents' struggling Korean BBQ restaurant, and making new friends. She manage her different identities while learning something true about herself. A great read.

Yumi is so funny and so relatable. The writing in this book is beautiful and I felt like I was alongside Yumi for the entire story. I loved the closeness of the family, the tight friendships, and most of all, the wonderful humor. This is an amazing read!

(a review from my daughter)This book is a great book. It's very funny, and I think you should read it!😊 It's about Yumi Chung and her point of view. Yumi loves Comedy, and I think if you like comedy, there's some really good jokes in here. I liked learning about comedy. But other then comedy, you can learn about friendships, and most of all, to be yourself.

A shy girl who wants to be a comedian, Yumi Chung finds herself deceiving her parents in order to make her dreams come true. Along the way she learns the importance of family and that her immigrant parents might just support her if she gave them the chance.A heartfelt story centered on family, comedy, and being your true self; Stand Up, Yumi Chung! is one of the most hyped middle grades of 2020 and for good reason. Jessica Kim's debut has stand out characters and an impactful storyline. Yumi's passion for comedy is what truly sold me on her. She practices and writes jokes in her "Super-Secret Comedy Notebook" constantly. She is so determined to show her parents that she can do comedy and ace an important test that she spends hours studying for something she doesn't want to do. She finds it in herself to take a chance, although a morally gray one, to learn how to be a better comedian. She learns to tell jokes in front of people and be okay with being in the limelight while being shy. As a fellow shy person, I appreciated her realistic growth on the stage. Family was a large aspect to the story and having an immigrant father and grandparents myself, it's always interesting to see the similarities and differences between immigrant cultures. My parents drilled into me and my brothers how important education is because it's something that can't be taken away. With our careers they mostly want us to have stable jobs and for us to be happy. At first, Yumi's parents didn't seem to focus on happiness, but for them, a successful career where you don't have to worry about money is being happy. Speaking of being happy, I loved that Yumi's sister - Yuri - decided she rather go find herself then do something she knows she hates in order to make her parents happy. Both sisters were going through the same thing at different times in their lives which I thought was a great addition to the plot. Yumi's jokes themselves could be very good especially when she was talking about her permed hair. None of them were belly laugh funny but I'm not the audience. I can see kids her age enjoying her jokes. Lastly, I enjoyed the satisfying and somewhat realistic ending to the story. I think it had a good message that kids can take with them after the story is finished.I do have some qualms about Yumi's story centering around being a comedian. It would be nice if more books focused on characters who want to be something either kids' have never heard of or something not revolving the arts. Yumi wants to be a comedian like someone she follows on YouTube which isn't really realistic but I guess that's the point. However, I do think that showing the drive Yumi had towards working hard to be a good comedian leveled off the playing field. Also, I love books with food descriptions but I didn't know any of the food that was talked about in this story. It would have been so nice to have an illustrated image or two of some of the food that was served at Chung's Barbecue. One last thing, I wish this wasn't a standalone. I would be really interested to see Yumi in seventh, eighth, or even as a freshman in high school with the new friends she made and her current best friend.Stand Up, Yumi Chung! is well worth the hype as it showcases the struggles and love of being a part of an immigrant family and the determination it takes to stand up for your dreams.

I'm a grown up middle aged professional but I love all kinds of books.... especially kids books. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. This one was extra special for me because I personally experienced many of the same struggles growing up, but I think everybody can relate in some way to Yumi Chung. Whether it be that you're trying to fit in, had siblings (or friends) you wanted to measure up to, had big expectations from your parents, had parents who sacrificed everything for you, or you're simply trying to figure out exactly who you are in a complicated world. It weaves all these complex themes into a very funny yet meaningful story. It's so easy to read and I couldn't put it down! I finished it in 1 day. Highly recommended for everybody in the family.

I got this book and immediately started reading it. It's so good that I finished it in 53 minutes. The book is laugh out funny. I really like the main character. Yumi is smart and funny. The book also teaches you a lesson about yourself. I like both Front Desk and Stand Up, Yumi Chung!

In this middle grade novel, Kim does such a fabulous job showing what many Korean American kids go through, pressure to study and get the best grades to enter top universities. The main character, Yumi, would rather study comedy than go to hagwon and enter a top middle school. Readers will embrace being honest with others, making friendships, and learning Korean culture, especially the delicious food! A really great read!

I knew I'd love the mistaken identity storyline (one of my all-time favorite tropes) and there were a lot of laugh out loud hijinks in Yumi's doomed attempts at pretending to be someone she's not. But what I wasn't expecting was the warmly drawn characters, the pangs of loneliness, and the triumph of a character finding her voice on and off the stage. Yumi's dad in particular really stole my heart. The story is great for a laugh but also delivers an uplifting and emotional resolution.

Its a really nice book and i enjoyed reading it!As soon as I saw this book I wanted to read it cuz i, also am korean.strong characters and story... I recommand it to young teensit can get boring at some parts so i dont know about other ppl but im a huge fan of these kind of books so i didnt mindyou sould try it!!!!

Ritengo il libro un buon libro, si legge bene e si apprezza facilmente. Tuttavia, ci sono stati diversi momenti in cui non sono riuscita ad apprezzare Yumi. Sarà che non sono un'amante delle bugie sulle bugie sulle bugie e, quando i personaggi dei libri finiscono incastrati nelle loro costanti bugie, mi sento sempre un po' frustrata.Ma, a parte le eccessive bugie, mi è piaciuta Yumi e mi è piaciuta la sua storia, il modo in cui ci ha mostrato la sua famiglia coreana e le loro tradizioni, abitudini, modi di fare e di volersi bene.Consigliato!