I'm Ok by Patti Kim (review)

Life gets tough in the Korean-American Lee household after Ok's father dies in an accident; his mother (Ŏmma) works as a seamstress and a cashier at a grocery store and sells her homemade kimchi to members of their church just to get by. Ok wants to help Ŏmma by earning the income they would have if Appa was still alive, so he takes on several money-making ventures like braiding hair and entering a school talent show for a grand prize of $100. His plans to take care of their family are curbed when Deacon Koh, whom Ok doesn't trust, begins dating his mother and Ok feels like he's being pushed out; additionally, his closest enemies-turned-friends do not even know that his father has died until in desperation to unburden himself he reveals that he blames himself for the death, which turns out to not be his fault at all. This is an honest and poignant tale of an adolescent attempting to navigate his feelings of loss and inadequacy, and Kim writes with easygoing accessibility and vivid detail. On one hand, Ok is a smart guy, but on the other, he shows his youth with his half-thought-out plans to run away and live in a tent. He's not perfect, but he is endearing in his genuine efforts to do right by the people for whom he cares. QB