Lia Park and the Missing Jewel
by Jenna YoonPublished by: Aladdin on May 3, 2022
Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Adventure
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
This middle grade fantasy follows a young girl who must venture to the undersea kingdom of the Dragon King in Korea to save her parents from an evil diviner spirit.
Twelve-year old Lia Park just wants to fit in. Her parents work with a mysterious organization that makes them ridiculously overprotective. Lia’s every move has been scrutinized since she was born, and she’d love to have the option of doing something exciting for once. So when she gets invited to the biggest birthday party of the year—and her parents say she can’t go—Lia sneaks out.
But her first act of rebellion not only breaks her parents’ rules, but also an ancient protection spell, allowing an evil diviner spirit to kidnap and ransom her parents for a powerful jewel that her family has guarded for years. With just the clothes on her back and some very rusty magical skills, Lia finds herself chasing mysterious clues that take her to her grandmother’s home in Korea.
From there, she has to make their way to the undersea kingdom of the Dragon King, the only person who knows where the powerful jewel might be. Along with her friend, Joon, Lia must dig deep and find courage to stand up for those who are weak—and become the hero her parents need.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- Diverse adventures with lots of danger and action
- Books like Percy Jackson
- Action adventure meets heist plot meets spy book
- Korean culture and mythology
- Strong family and friendship bonds
Many thanks to Aladdin and Turn the Page Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
I know I’ve really been caught up on the diverse mythology fantasies lately, especially the ones that lead to new worlds or an unknown part of our world. So of course I was going to pick up Lia Park and the Missing Jewel for that aspect of it. But also, Lia Park seems to have something a bit different that the others didn’t. Namely, a spy movie feel to it! Which made it doubly hard to resist.
Lia Park and the Missing Jewel is an action adventure meets a spy book based on Korean mythology and culture. It’s filled with danger, friendship, family, and magic.
I had so much fun with this book! There’s so much going on that it never gets boring (but not so much that I’m completely lost or rushed, either). It keeps a nice pace from one thing to another, with plenty of fun surprises along the way. Plus, a big part of the plot is a clue scavenger hunt, which is super fun!
Are you ready to be whisked into a world where magic is real (and so is the danger) and all that stands between them and us is the International Magic Agency (IMA)?
It’s almost low-key Men In Black meets Harry Potter. The IMA regulates magic, but you have to have magic in order to have a meaningful position in the agency (other than being a desk jockey or something, of course). Which is a bummer for Lia, who has low-level magical parents but no magic of her own. And riding a desk just isn’t in her future goals.
The magic in this world seems pretty random and by luck. Sort of Incredibles style. For example, Lia’s best friend, Joon, has the ability to heal himself, which is extremely handy. Lia’s halmoni has the ability to shapeshift, which is an even cooler power. However, it’s clear that not everyone gets these awesome abilities, because as far as she knows, Lia’s mother’s power is flexibility (and she’s not even that flexible!) and her father’s ability is equally disappointing. In a world full of incredible magic, bit of a bummer, right?
I loved seeing all the different ways magic is overlaid onto our world, though! It was a ton of fun and always had me wondering what new magic might be lurking around the corner.
“Yeah. I guess it is,” I said. “Whatever this place is.”
“I mean, even the door recognizes you and opens for you.”
“Can doors even do that?”
“I’m sure it’s a magic door,” he said.
There’s definite spy elements of this book, though my favorite part (and what I think middle grade readers will love the most) is the scavenger hunt that Lia needs to undertake in order to find the jewel.
In case you didn’t know, kids absolutely love scavenger hunts. I mean, adults do, too, really. Scavenger hunts are pretty much universal fun. If I’ve learned anything in my brief library career, it’s that.
In this case, Lia’s parents have built her a fail-safe scavenger hunt. If the worst should happen (which, obviously, it does, because this is a book and we’re here, right?), then Lia will need to know how to find this thing that she didn’t even know existed. Because parents are really good at keeping secrets from their kids. 100%, can confirm. The clues for this were really interesting, and I loved the way Lia’s parents structure the clues. They were challenging but interesting and required a little bit of logic and thinking to puzzle them out. I don’t think any readers will come right out and guess the clues themselves, but that’s okay. It makes sense because they’re tailored for Lia, and it provides another great opportunity for the reader to get to know her better!
A man swerved around me in his car and wagged his finger at me. He gave me the dirtiest stink-eye and yelled, “Juggo sipeo?”
No, sir, I didn’t want to die. Stop yelling at me, please.
This book is filled with Korean culture and language, and for someone who hasn’t been raised with that, it’s really fun to learn about.
I love Korean folklore and mythology. I’m obviously not middle grade-aged myself, though, and I’ve gone out of my way to read and learn about Korean culture, so I’m coming in a little bit aware already. For kids who haven’t been exposed to it before? This book would be a fantastic introduction!
Yoon does a great job of using context clues and simple explanations when using common Korean terms the first time, but then doesn’t hold the readers’ hands when they’re used repeatedly. In instances where full Korean phrases are used, it’s pretty clear what was being said by the surrounding context.
I absolutely loved learning more about the culture, because there were plenty of things that I didn’t know and was able to learn along the way, which is always a great thing. Like the story of the Dokkaebi Bangmangi! Middle grade readers are sure to have fun learning about the folktales and mythology that Yoon incorporates in this book.
It was one of the many Korean folktales my parents used to read to me. This one was about a woodcutter who was gathering acorns for his family when he came across a group of dokkaebi, also known as goblins. He saw them do magic with a bangmangi, which is basically a magic club. The woodcutter got so hungry, he ate one acorn, and the noise scared the dokkaebi away. But they left behind the bangmangi, which he took home and used for good.
Yoon takes readers on a mini tour of Korea, complete with some famous sites and local history.
Fun fact: I’ve never been to Korea. I’ll likely never go to Korea. The majority of middle graders who pick up this book will also likely never go to Korea. So it’s basically a stroke of genius for Yoon to simply bring Korea to the middle grade readers so vividly!
Part of the story is actually spent in Korea. Coincidentally (or probably not, because authors tend to have these things planned out, I guess), it’s during the scavenger hunt, which means a lot of the clues and traveling revolve around Korean culture and locale. So there were a lot of really interesting mentions of Korean history and architecture and so many really neat things that I didn’t know and loved learning about.
“Location down!” He raised his hand and I slapped him a high five. Small victories.
“So where is this place?”
He tapped on a link and a map filled the screen. “Cheomseongdae was built in Seorabeol, the capital of the Silla dynasty, which was known for its advanced understanding of science and math.”
“And that’s right there.” I pointed to a part of the map. “Seorabeol is modern-day Gyeongju.”
I know this is a highly contested take, but I really wish there had been some sort of glossary for pronunciation of the Korean words.
For some of the harder words, there are guides in the text on how to pronounce them just as part of the writing, which I appreciated, since these are words that I wouldn’t have figured out how to pronounce correctly no matter what. For the most part, though, there are a lot of Korean words and phrases, and Korean is hard to sound out coming from a purely English background (though I have a leg up from most middle grade readers, since I studied it very briefly forever ago).
On the one hand, I hate the way this “others” languages that aren’t English. I can see why authors would choose not to do this.
On the other hand, from a parent/librarian perspective, it is really easy to lose middle graders, and that would be a shame. This book was great! However, Minion picked it up, hit a couple Korean words, and set it down again (though not before she checked the back for a glossary!). Minion is a reluctant reader, though, and any barrier easily turns her off a book. I serve a lot of reluctant readers, and sometimes a glossary can make the difference for them sticking with a book when presented with a 15-letter word that looks really weird to them and they can’t even begin to sound it out!
So this isn’t a huge sticking point. It’s personal preference, really, and not factored into my rating or anything. However, I know so many kids who are interested in other languages and cultures but also super easily intimidated by words they can’t figure out. Not everyone has the ability to boldly and unapologetically mispronounce words like I do. xD Not bragging, but it’s kind my superpower.
About Jenna Yoon
Jenna Yoon studied Art History at Wellesley College and received her master’s degree in Korean art history from Ewha Womans University. She’s lived about half her life in both Korea and the United States. When she’s not writing, Jenna loves to travel, find yummy eats, play board games, and take skin care very seriously. Currently, she lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two kids.
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