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The OKs Are Not Okay (Mar. 3, 2026) by Grace
K. Shim.
<This is
a standalone novel.>
She’s the life of the party. Truly. Seventeen-year-old
Elena Ok (pronounced “Oak”) is such a financially savvy, socialite party “it”
girl that people and companies pay her to appear at their events. After turning
a What’s that? embarrassment as a 14-year-old into a
trademarked phrase, Elena has artfully and carefully curated her perfect self.
From her luscious hair to her dewy skin to her toned physique, she is the envy
of all, and she adores the attention. Her livelihood depends on social media
and being in the spotlight. All of that comes crashing down when It’s Ok! (pronounced
“Okay”), the fast-fashion family business, comes under scrutiny from the IRS.
Their fortune is completely gone, except for what Elena has earned on her own,
which is considerable, but not close enough to keep them in luxury. Elena,
Gavin (her big brother) and their parents, Dale & Gloria, end up on a dusty
plot of land that Dale & Gloria own. It’s in (fictional) Blaire “... in
central California, west of Bakersfield, north of Santa Barbara.” Population:
150. It’s in a National Radio Quiet Zone, and now their family “vehicle” is a
two-seater tractor, as vehicles in this zone need to run on diesel.
Elena is
distraught over their circumstances and suddenly having to live like “regular”
people. Not only is she stuck in the middle of nowhere without Wifi and all of
her fluffy conveniences, her parents and Gavin seem to take to their Korean
farming heritage with ease, while their family dynamics unravel. It gets better
meeting fellow 17-year-old Callie Hartford, lifetime Blaire resident and intern
at the Blaire Observatory, and she really likes meeting Brennan, an
observatory intern from NOVA (Northern Virginia). She even discovers, albeit in
an at-first unwilling, dragging-her-feet sort-of-way, that her entrepreneurial
spirit helps sell more at the farmers market. She’s got business savvy, but no
one in her family acknowledges it. Their parents enthuse over Gavin, who’s set
to take over the business someday, but he’s got a big secret, too. Out of the
crumbling, the Oks must find a way to rise to new successes.
I read
the entirety of this YA contemporary, realistic fiction novel, but I struggled
for much of it. For Elena’s mom to be surprised at what her daughter doesn’t
know about anything in the kitchen is ridiculous, because it’s by her parents’
own hiring of nannies and personal chefs, etc., that Elena’s never had to do
anything for herself except make herself pretty. Elena is also incredibly
self-absorbed, beyond anyone I’ve met in real life. My parents would never have
tolerated such behaviors or attitudes, and I won’t, either. To be fair, there
is self-discovery, but it comes pretty late and at the cost of Elena hurting
others. The novel also shows that hard work does pay off and this
fish-out-of-water can find understanding within her family. I get that not
everyone can manage farm/rural community life, but sheesh, this girl needs to
learn basic life skills.
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