Bloody Seoul

By Sonia Patel

Rocky’s future as crime boss for the Three Star Pa gang in Seoul seems fated–until he discovers that his violent father has lied about everything.

Description

Rocky’s the most loyal 16-year-old you’ll ever meet: loyal to the Three Star Pa gang, which his father runs in Seoul, Korea; loyal to his best friends, who accompany him everywhere he goes; loyal to his ever-escalating public bullying of Ha-na, a girl at school; and, finally, loyal to the memory of his mother, even though there are some things about her that he tries to forget. He loves his friends, his city, and the power he wields. But when he catches his father in a lie, the truth is exposed, and his life begins to unravel–and Rocky has no idea where it’s going to lead.

About the Creators

Sonia Patel

Sonia Patel knows teenagers inside and out. As a child and adolescent psychiatrist, trained at Stanford University and the University of Hawaii, she has spent over fifteen years listening to and understanding the psyche of teenagers from all walks of life. She’s also been a teenage girl herself, growing up on Moloka’i as a first generation Gujarati-American. As a writer, Sonia is passionate about giving voice to the underrepresented youth she treats. Her YA debut featuring a Gujarati-Indian American teen, Rani Patel In Full Effect, was a finalist for the Morris Award and was listed on YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults and Kirkus’ Reviews Best Teen Books of 2016. Her second YA novel, with a Gujarati-Indian trans boy and a mixed ethnicity girl, Jaya and Rasa: A Love Story, was selected for the 2019 In the Margins Book Award Recommended Fiction Book List. She chose South Korea as the setting for her third YA novel, Bloody Seoul, because of her extensive treatment experience with Korean and Korean American teens on Oahu (and her love for the Korean gangster film genre).

Reviews

  • "A powerful story about family, redemption, and finding out who you really are."

    - Booklist
  • "[P]oetic, fast-paced and electrifying. . .Patel's writing shines. Her words flow across the page like a poem – descriptive yet succinct, observant of an entire world in so few phrases."

    - Cleaver Magazine

Hardcover

  • ISBN 9781947627208
  • Publication Date Aug 20, 2019
  • Trim Size 9 × 6 in
  • Weight 1.25 lbs
  • Page Count 224
  • Paperback

  • ISBN 9781947627215
  • Publication Date Aug 20, 2019
  • Trim Size 9 × 6 in
  • Weight 0.875 lbs
  • Page Count 224
  • Interests

  • Audience Young Adult
  • BISAC Category 1 YAF / People & Places / Asia
  • BISAC Category 2 YAF / Boys & Men
  • BISAC Category 3 YAF / Family / Multigenerational
  • Themes Asian / Asian American / AAPI, Families, Fathers, Fiction, Identity / Self Esteem / Confidence, Realistic Fiction, Teen Interest, YA interest
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 14 - 18
  • Grade Range Grades 8 - 12
  • Guided Reading Z+
  • DRA 80
  • Interest Level Grades 8 - 12
  • Lexile Code HL
  • Lexile Level 560
  • Reading Level Grades 9 - 10
  • Bebop Reading Advanced
  • This Book is Included in These Collections:

    • 19
      English Guided Reading Level Z+
      Collection of 19 books: $280.05

      Jaya and Rasa: A Love Story

      Jaya's a rich kid. Rasa's motherless and broke. Opposite sides of the tracks. Romeo and Juliet, on fair Oahu.

      The Everything I Have Lost

      Julia keeps lists in her diary--lists of everything she loses. When her lists end up including her dad and her home, she finds comfort in the pages, but she'll need more than that to find the truth.

      Gabi, A Girl in Pieces

      In this groundbreaking William C. Morris Award winner for a YA debut, Gabi's life is a mess--her family, her friends, her attempts at a love life--but writing helps, especially since it turns out she's pretty good at poetry.

      Iron River

      An acclaimed YA debut novel that serves as a great alternative or companion to To Kill a Mockingbird--exploring the dynamics of systemic racism in the 1950s through the eyes of a Latino boy coming of age.

      Bloody Seoul

      Rocky's future as crime boss for the Three Star Pa gang in Seoul seems fated--until he discovers that his violent father has lied about everything.

      House of Purple Cedar

      A Choctaw tale of tragedy, good and evil, revenge and ultimately forgiveness, laced with healing Choctaw humor and a little magical realism thrown in.

      Playing for the Devil's Fire

      The bittersweet odyssey of a boy coming of age in a landscape broken by drugs, crime, and corruption.

      Rani Patel In Full Effect

      Rani's fully present as MC Sutra, "Call my solution a female revolution / retribution in the form of rhyme electrocution."

      That Mad Game

      Coming of age during a time of war: fighting, dying, surviving. First-person accounts from around the world.

      This Thing Called the Future

      Fourteen-year-old Khosi yearns for this thing called the future-- something better than sickness and superstition in a shanty town. Does she want too much? A stunning YA coming-of-age story set in post-apartheid South Africa.

      Grand Theft Horse

      Yummy author G. Neri returns to graphic novels with the powerful story of his cousin Gail Ruffu, who stole a racehorse in order to save it, and ended up fighting the whole racing industry for the humane treatment of animals.

      Last Night I Sang to the Monster

      A finalist for the PEN USA Literary Award, this novel sensitively captures a teen's recovery from alcohol abuse and depression.

      Seeing off the Johns

      Two baseball heroes die in a tragic accident. What happens in the rural hometown they left behind.

      The Witch Owl Parliament

      Discover a graphic novel unlike any other--a brilliant steampunk reimagining of Frankenstein set in colonial Mexico.

      Under Water

      Seventeen-year-old Khosi dreams of finishing school--but how can she chase dreams while navigating rising violence in her South African township and trying to provide for her sister? A moving sequel to the award-winning This Thing Called the Future.

      Quicks

      Senior Year. Glory time! But nothing's easy. Girls. Family. The rehabbed knee. And there's this white guy. S'up with that?

      Diverse Energies

      A collection of dystopian short stories featuring diverse main characters and by authors of color.

      Killer of Enemies

      A post-Apocalyptic YA novel with a steampunk twist, based on an Apache legend.

      I Am Alfonso Jones

      The Hate U Give meets The Lovely Bones in this unflinching graphic novel about the afterlife of a young man killed by an off-duty police officer, co-illustrated by New York Times bestselling artist John Jennings.

      1668 in stock

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