"Not Your Average Jo" by Grace K. Shim

 

Not Your Average Jo (Mar. 12, 2024) by Grace K. Shim.

<This is a standalone novel.>

Compared to Bentonville, Arkansas, a place like Los Angeles should have the diversity and opportunity that Riley Jo’s hometown does not. The Korean American teen dreams of being a musician – and no, she doesn’t play K-pop – so when she nabs a coveted spot at Carlmont Academy in L.A. for her senior year of high school, she’s ecstatic. She’s made it into the contemporary band program. Her bandmate Griff Torres accepts her readily enough, but Bodhi Collins – son of one-hit 90s wonder and advisor of their group, Blake Collins – definitely does not. Blake’s incredulous reaction to “Riley Jo?” as in, You’re Riley Jo?, adds insult. Riley chooses to keep mum, even as the microaggressions add up and even when she’s pushed as backup to her own original song in the group she ends up naming: RGB. Fellow student Xander McNeil is capturing so much of this for a documentary he’s working on for his senior project. Aerie Jung and Nari Hitomi try to get Riley to report the blatant discrimination, but she never does. She chooses to make “bad choices in order to avoid worse ones,” but is she truly playing the long game? Or has she set herself up to be a pawn in a game that ignores her?

            I checked out this book after the opening paragraph caught my attention: “When you’re Asian American in an area where there aren’t many Asian Americans, there’s a cultural expectation people have of you that is clear from day one. You become the expert on all things Asian, whether you like it or not – whether you’re qualified or not.” From being assumed as every type of Asian (usually Chinese) to once getting called down to a workplace office because someone assumed I spoke Japanese to scenarios far less entertaining and high up on the creep-o-meter, those opening lines reverberated through me.

            Unfortunately, I didn’t connect to Riley’s character, and it’s not because I lack the dream of a music career that’s Taylor Swift famous. For much of the story, Riley wants to ignore the microaggressions until she finally snaps and decides to “Go There.” The 180 did not feel authentic, but that could largely be because I never connected with the character. There are powerful themes in this story resounding around cultural appropriation, race, discrimination and nepotism. It showcases Riley’s struggle within herself, wanting to speak up while also wanting to keep her head down in hopes that she’ll be part of a record deal. Music is central to the story, and Shim details a believably cutthroat music industry via an arts school setting. This is a bildungsroman. Self-discovery isn’t an easy road, made harder when there’s bias involved, and Riley reflects this. I don’t typically rate with stars, but I’d give it a 3/5.

            Also by Grace K. Shim: The Noh Family