Frankly in Love

At the center of David Yoon’s delightful debut is a Korean American high-schooler named Frank Li who has fallen hard for his white classmate. But his crush comes with complications: his immigrant parents expect he’ll date a Korean girl. So Frank teams up with a childhood friend, Joy Song, who is dealing with a very similar dilemma. The two decide to pretend to date each other to please their parents while secretly pursuing their true loves on the side. Expectedly, sparks fly between the two. It’s a rom-com premise that’s been done before, but Yoon crafts this sweet story while tackling the complexities of racial identity with ease. The result is a sensitive and accessible narrative about a teenager navigating first love and his relationship to the cultures that shape his life. —Annabel Gutterman

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