The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim (review)

Riley Oh is thrilled for her adoptive sister Hattie’s initiation into the Gom clan of magical healers, even though she herself doesn’t have magic and is doomed to be forever an outsider to the six gifted clans. When a plan to share Hattie’s powers goes wrong and the Gom patron demands the Godrealm’s last fallen star in exchange for saving Hattie’s life, Riley and her loyal BFF Emmett (allergic to emotions, wears all black, bakes a mean cookie) quickly agree. As the quest commences, Riley and Emmett discover that there’s more to the story of the exiled Horangi clan than they’ve been taught, and Hattie’s life depends on Riley’s willingness to sacrifice everything she knows about herself. Riley’s a slangy, engaging narrator, backed by a cast of family, friends, and frenemies who round out her LA tween life. The elaborate magical community, riddled with tensions, is a lot of fun, and the urgency of saving Hattie drives the pace and Riley’s growth into her true self. Best of all is the way the mythology and folklore mix with the modern world and Korean/Korean-American pop culture: there are secret entrances to magical spaces in the local H-Mart and noraebang, witchy explanations for K-drama and pop stars’ preternatural beauty (all but one member of BTS, for instance, belong to the Gumiho clan) and new friend Taeyo develops Ghostr, a handy social app for connecting with ghosts. This is a welcome addition to recent middle-grade books inspired by Korean myth, including Keller’s Newbery-winning When You Trap a Tiger (BCCB 12/19). A glossary with pronunciation guide is included; K-pop playlist not required (but readers will probably want one anyway).