:Finding My Voice
{{Short description|Novel by Marie Myung-Ok Lee}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book |
| name = Finding My Voice
| image = Finding-my-voice-book-cover.jpg
| caption =
| author = Marie Myung-Ok Lee
| country = United States
| language = English
| cover_artist =
| genre = Young adult
| publisher = HarperCollins
| pub_date = 1992
| media_type = Print (hardback and paperback) and ebook
| pages = 172
| isbn = 9780064472456
| isbn_note = (hardback)
|italic title=yes
}}
Finding My Voice is a young adult novel by Marie Myung-Ok Lee (writing as Marie G. Lee). First published in 1992, Finding My Voice was republished in 2001 by Harper Trophy,{{Cite book|title=Formats and Editions of Finding my voice. [WorldCat.org]|language=en|oclc = 671809976}} and was reissued in 2021.{{cite web | website=MPRnews | last=Yang | first=Hannah | date=February 2, 2021 | title='Finding My Voice': Hibbing native's YA novel reissue connects with new generation of readers | url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/02/02/finding-my-voice-novel-connects-with-new-generation | access-date=October 2, 2021}} Finding My Voice is generally considered to be the "first teen novel released by a major publisher with a contemporary Asian American protagonist by an Asian American author".{{Cite book|title=Paperback crush: the totally radical history of '80s and '90s teen fiction|last=Moss|first=Gabrielle|pages=29–30, 36|publisher=Quirk Books|year=2018|isbn=9781683690788|location=Philadelphia, PA|oclc=1022200901}} An excerpt from Finding My Voice was included in the anthology Prejudice: stories about hate, ignorance, revelation, and transformation{{Cite book|title=Prejudice: stories about hate, ignorance, revelation, and transformation|last=Muse|first=Daphne|date=1995|publisher=Hyperion Books for Children|isbn=9780786800247|location=New York|language=English|oclc=31331199}}{{cite journal|title=PREJUDICE: Stories About Hate, Ignorance, Revelation, and Transformation|journal=Kirkus Reviews|issue=10|date=15 May 1995|issn=1948-7428}} and in Literary themes for students: the American dream: examining diverse literature to understand and compare universal themes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Literary+themes+for+students;+the+American+dream;+examining+diverse...-a0172603655|title=Literary themes for students; the American dream; examining diverse literature to understand and compare universal themes; 2v. - Free Online Library|website=www.thefreelibrary.com|access-date=2019-09-29}}
Lee's novel Saying Goodbye is the sequel to Finding My Voice.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelkramerbussel/2019/07/17/popular-asian-american-young-adult-novel-finding-my-voice-to-be-republished-in-2021/|title=Popular Asian-American Young Adult Novel 'Finding My Voice' To Be Republished in 2021|last=Bussel|first=Rachel Kramer|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2019-09-29}}
Plot
Finding My Voice is a frank presentation of the issue of racism through the experiences of Ellen Sung, a high school senior, who is the daughter of Korean immigrants and is attracted to Tomper, a white classmate.
Reception
Kirkus Reviews described it as "Honestly rendered, and never didactic, the story allows readers first to flinch in recognition and then to look into their own hearts."{{Cite book|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/marie-g-lee/finding-my-voice-2/|title=FINDING MY VOICE by Marie G. Lee {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|language=en}} Publishers Weekly{{'}}s review said "If Lee's story line is somewhat familiar, her portrayal of her heroine is unusually well balanced."{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-395-62134-9|title=Finding My Voice|website=www.publishersweekly.com|access-date=2019-09-29}}
Monica Chiu states "Lee's novel exemplifies that some authority cannot be subverted by young adults, and that students are disadvantaged in fighting a system that is more powerful than they are."{{cite journal |last1=Chiu |first1=Monica |title=The Cultural Production of Asian American Young Adults in the Novels of Marie G. Lee, An Na, and Doris Jones Yang |journal=The Lion and the Unicorn |issn=0147-2593|date=Apr 2006 |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=168–184}} Eve Becker, writing in the Chicago Tribune, says the book helps readers understand what it is like to be an outsider, but calls it "sort of predictable".{{cite news |last1=Becker |first1=Eve |title=BOOKS |work=Chicago Tribune |date=6 Sep 1994}}
Honors
The American Library Association named Finding My Voice the Best Book for Reluctant Readers in 1992.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hh8zDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT22|title=A Study Guide for Marie G. Lee's "Finding My Voice"|date=2016|publisher=Gale, Cengage Learning|isbn=9781410345943|language=en}} In 1993, Finding My Voice received the Young People's Literature Award from the Friends of American Writers.{{Cite web|url=http://fawchicago.org/juv_awards.php|title=Friends of American Writers Chicago Young People's Literature Awards|website=fawchicago.org|access-date=2019-09-29}} The International Reading Association placed it on their 1994 Young Adults' Choices list.{{Cite journal|date=1994|title=Young Adults' Choices for 1994|journal=Journal of Reading|volume=38|issue=3|pages=219–225|issn=0022-4103|jstor=40033306}} In 1997, it was on the American Library Association list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults.{{Cite web|url=https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/ALA+Popular+Paperbacks+for+Young+Adults|title=ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults – Book awards|website=www.librarything.com|access-date=2019-09-29}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30046411 Autobiography: Straight up and with a Twist (article by Lee about her books)]