Back to the Future meets The Joy Luck Club in this YA contemporary romance about a Korean American girl sent back to the ’90s to (reluctantly) help her teenage mom win Homecoming Queen.
Being a first-generation Asian American immigrant is hard. You know what’s harder? Being the daughter of one. Samantha Kang has never gotten along with her mother, Priscilla—and has never understood her bougie-nightmare, John Hughes high school expectations. After a huge fight between them, Sam is desperate to move forward—but instead, finds herself thrown back. Way back.
To her shock, Sam finds herself back in high school . . . in the ’90s . . . with a 17-year-old Priscilla. Now this Gen Z girl must try to fit into an analog world. She’s got the fashion down, but everything else is baffling. What is “microfiche”? What’s with the casual racism and misogyny? And why does it feel like Priscilla is someone she could actually be . . . friends with?
Sam's blast to the past has her finding the right romance in the wrong time while questioning everything she thought she knew about her mom . . . and herself. Will Sam figure out what she needs to do to fix things for her mom so that she can go back to a time she understands? Brimming with heart and humor, Maurene Goo’s time-travel romance asks big questions about what exactly one inherits and loses in the immigrant experience.
Topics Families. Family life. Korean Americans. Mothers and daughters. Asian Americans. Time travel. Romance. High schools. 1990s.
Trim Size 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
JLG Span Spring
Language English
Rights type Print
Publication date 2023-04-10
JLG Release Date Jun 2023
Minimum grade 9
Maximum grade 12
Reading level High
Format Print
Young Adult (Grades 9 & Up)
Young Adult
Young Adult (Grades 9 & Up)
For Grades 9 & Up
Your older teen readers will appreciate the 12 selections in this category, a diverse mix of fiction and nonfiction covering complex issues and more mature content, from crushes and body changes to friendships and sibling rivalry.