The Last Rhee Witch
by Jenna Lee-Yun (Author)
For fans of The Last Fallen Star, Witchlings, and Ghost Squad, a heartfelt middle grade debut where Korean folklore is all too real and summer camp includes a gwishin haunting.
You couldn't hold onto everything and everyone. You had to choose. And Ronnie only had two hands. Since her mother died when she was five years old, it's always just been Ronnie Miller and her dad. Two Korean Americans who, thanks to Ronnie's dad's adoption by white parents, have never felt all that Korean. But Ronnie is okay with that--as long as she has her dad and her best friend Jack, Ronnie is 99% certain she can get through anything.
But as much as she wants everything to stay the same, the world--and her dad--has other plans. Now, Ronnie and Jack are headed away to sleepaway camp for the first time ever. Camp Foster promises all of the outdoorsy activities that Ronnie has so far managed to avoid: ropes courses, scavenger hunts, kayaking on the lake. Ugh. But she can do this. As long as she has Jack. As it turns out, an old manor in the woods is the kind of place that's crawling with secrets. Secrets like a mysterious gwishin haunting the grounds, a blood-red scarf wrapped too tightly around her ghostly neck. And a witch-hunting dokkaebi intent on finding and silencing the last Rhee witch.
And the strange habit all the counselors have of rhyming when they speak . . . just like Ronnie has begun to do lately. For a girl who wants everything to stay the same, nothing is scarier than all the changes Camp Foster brings. New friends. New foes. Souls with unfinished business. And, possibly worst of all, revelations that disprove everything Ronnie knew to be true.
Jenna Lee-Yun combines magic, mystery, suspense, and humor into a ghostly action-packed contemporary fantasy.
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Publishers Weekly
While attending Camp Foster in central Washington, Veronica "Ronnie" Miller-who has never felt particularly Korean, especially because her single father was raised by white parents-spots a Korean ghost, called a gwishin. Then she learns that Camp Foster is also home to Rhee Manor, where six members of the Rhee family were mysteriously killed, and every female victim was "found with a long, red, silk scarf wrapped loosely... around their necks." But Ronnie is skeptical of these paranormal occurrences; she only believes in things 99% and likes to leave 1% open to chance. So, with her half white and half Korean best friend Jack, she investigates the mystery, unravels her inexplicable connection to the camp and the ghost in the forest, and navigates new dangers such as a witch-hunting dokkaebi who has returned to take care of some unfinished business. Though slow pacing sometimes stymies narrative build up, things pick up as Ronnie gets closer to uncovering the truth. The protagonist’s cultural insecurities and her unprocessed grief surrounding her late mother are deftly woven throughout, adding emotional heft to Lee-Yun’s lengthy supernatural debut. Supporting characters are racially diverse.
Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
School Library Journal
Ronnie Miller is a Korean American girl who doesn't feel entirely Korean. She barely remembers the mother she lost as a toddler, and her father, an adoptee of white parents, has little knowledge of Korean culture. She can't speak Korean, and she doesn't have any interest in the folklore her best friend Jack is obsessed with. Ronnie is already struggling with how she fits within her community, but things take a turn for the worse when she turns 12. Her confounded father decides Ronnie needs a change and sends her away to summer camp with Jack. Feeling abandoned by her dad and worried about losing Jack to new friends, Ronnie ignores the ghostly figure she sees floating above the trees at Camp Foster. Even after hearing the rumor that camp is haunted by a vengeful gwishin, Ronnie is 99 percent certain that ghosts don't exist. But that certainty begins to falter as it becomes obvious that something is hunting Ronnie. Could it be that the creatures from Jack's books are real? As Ronnie tries to solve the secrets of Camp Foster, she finds they are intertwined with her own past and the mother she never knew. Drawing on Korean folklore, the ghost story is suspenseful enough to keep readers engaged, but it's the exploration of family, friendships, and community that give this debut novel extra weight. VERDICT Readers will enjoy this spooky middle grade mystery featuring an endearing cast of characters.
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV069000 - Juvenile Fiction | Ghost Stories
