Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business Read online

  First and foremost, I’d like to thank my parents, who tried their best to raise me in a country that was entirely new to them. Thank you for giving me the varied experiences that would be so vital to my books.

  Second, I would like to thank the teachers I had while growing up. Not all of my teachers were good, but most of them were amazing and inspired me in so many different ways. Special thanks goes to Ms. Opal Brown, without whom fourth-grade me would have never even written her first book. Thank you also to Ms. Sheila Holsinger, Ms. Ellen Johnston, and Ms. Silvera. I’d also like to include Janet Ohanis in this category, even though she was already retired by the time I met her. Thank you all for dedicating your lives to teaching kids like me and changing countless lives through your wisdom and encouragement.

  A writer is a lost, lonely penguin stranded in the middle of Antarctica without her friends, and I’m so glad I didn’t have to go on this journey alone. Thank you to Jennifer Cheung, Allyson Smith, Jason Terry, and the other friends I made nearly twenty years ago at Wadsworth Elementary. We had our differences in the very beginning, but overall, thanks to you, my real-life experience as the new girl in Florida was much happier than Mindy’s. Thank you also to my friends from different parts of the country: Chelsea Chang, Shiyun Sun, Luke Chou, Bernice Yau, Anita Chen, Brianna Lei, Annie Lee, Kaiti Liu, and Angelica Tran.

  I need a whole other section for my writer friends, because you’ve all helped me in so many different ways. Thank you to Aneeqah Naeem, my number one cheerleader and “unofficial publicist.” Our writing dates were literally life changing, and I hope there are many more to come. Thank you also to Francesca Flores, Akemi Dawn Bowman, Katie Zhao, Amelie Zhao, Rebecca Kuang, Suzie Chang, Elly Ha, Andrea Tang, Dahlia Adler, Marieke Nijkamp, Kat Cho, Axie Oh, Nafiza Azad, and the entirety of the #magicsprintingsquad. I love all of you and wish you the best.

  Thank you to my courageous and savvy agent, Penny Moore, and my insightful, fellow-lover-of-cute-things editor, Alyson Heller. You both worked tirelessly to bring Mindy into this world, and I appreciate everything you do. You are basically her honorary aunties. Here’s to many more happy tears as we continue on this journey together.

  Last but not least, thank you to Andrew Su, who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Thanks for the countless times you screamed, “OMG SO CUTE!” whenever I sent you excerpts of Mindy’s story. I’m not sure I’d have ever gotten the courage to write this book—and made it as cute as I possibly could—without you.

  More from this Series

  Mindy Kim and the Lunar…

  Book 2

  Mindy Kim and the…

  Book 3

  Keep reading for a preview of

  Mindy Kim and the Lunar New Year Parade

  by

  Lyla Lee

  My name is Mindy Kim.

  I’m almost eight years old, or at least, that’s how old I am in the United States. In Korea, though, I’m nine! That’s what Dad told me as he drove me to school.

  “Korean people calculate age differently,” he said. “You’re already one year old when you’re born, and then you get one year older on New Year’s Day, instead of getting older on your birthday.”

  I got really excited, since it’s been eight years since I was born. One plus eight is nine, and nine years old was definitely old enough to get a puppy. And even better yet, Lunar New Year was this Saturday!

  “Does this mean that I’ll turn ten this weekend?” I asked, throwing my backpack in the back seat.

  Dad laughed. “No, silly. People only age up on the first of January or on Lunar New Year, not both.”

  I sat back into my seat with a big huff. “What’s the point of two New Years if you can only age up on one?”

  Dad shook his head as he pulled into the school’s parking lot. “It’s an important part of our culture, Mindy. It goes way back to the times when our ancestors in Korea used the lunar calendar to tell time. Tell you what, why don’t we go to the Lunar New Year parade in Orlando this weekend? I saw an ad for it the other day. It looks like it’ll be fun!”

  Dad smiled at me, but I was unconvinced. The last time Dad said something would be “fun,” I ended up watching a boring show about really slow slugs all by myself because he fell asleep in five minutes.

  Plus, so much has changed since the last time we celebrated Lunar New Year. Last year, Dad, Mom, and I celebrated with the other Korean people in our neighborhood. We played really fun games like yutnori and jegichagi, ate so many yummy rice cakes, and even sang karaoke! There was no way that we could have as much fun this year as we did then.

  Not without Mom.

  Now the only other Korean family in our neighborhood is Eunice’s, and they were going to Seattle to visit their relatives for the holiday. It was just going to be me and Dad.

  “The parade will be fun,” Dad said again. “It’ll be good for us to leave the house.”

  I sighed. Dad really wanted to go to the parade! And I didn’t want to make him sad by saying I didn’t want to go.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll go to the parade.”

  Dad beamed. “Great! See you after school, honey.”

  “Bye, Appa,” I said, using the Korean word for “Daddy.”

  I headed toward the school, my shoulders slumped. I was not looking forward to Lunar New Year. Not anymore.

  Continue Reading…

  Mindy Kim and the Lunar New Year Parade

  Lyla Lee

  About the Author and Illustrator

  LYLA LEE is the author of the Mindy Kim series as well as the upcoming YA novel I’ll Be the One. Although she was born in a small town in South Korea, she’s since then lived in various parts of the United States, including California, Florida, and Texas. Inspired by her English teacher, she started writing her own stories in fourth grade and finished her first novel at the age of fourteen. After working various jobs in Hollywood and studying psychology and cinematic arts at the University of Southern California, she now lives in Dallas, Texas. When she is not writing, she is teaching kids, petting cute dogs, and searching for the perfect bowl of shaved ice. You can visit her online at lylaleebooks.com.

  DUNG HO was born and raised in Hue, Vietnam, where she studied graphic design at the Arts University. After graduating, she worked in the design and advertising industry for a short while, but then she found a great passion for illustration and making picture books. Now she is a freelance illustrator and currently lives and works in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

  LYLALEEBOOKS.COM

  ALADDIN

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Lyla-Lee

  www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Dung-Ho

  Don’t miss more fun adventures with Mindy Kim!

  BOOK 2:

  Mindy Kim and the Lunar New Year Parade

  Coming soon:

  BOOK 3:

  Mindy Kim and the Birthday Puppy

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  First Aladdin paperback edition January 2020

  Text copyright © 2020 by Lyla Lee

  Illustrations copyright © 2020 by Dung Ho

  Also available in an Aladdin hardcover edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sa
les at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Book designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena

  The illustrations for this book were rendered digitally.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Lee, Lyla, author. | Ho, Dung, illustrator.

  Title: Mindy Kim and the yummy seaweed business / by Lyla Lee ; illustrated by Dung Ho.

  Description: New York : Aladdin, 2020. | Series: Mindy Kim ; 1 | Audience: Ages 6–9 | Summary: Mindy Kim wants to fit in at her new school, but her favorite lunch leads to scorn, then a thriving business, and finally big trouble.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2019026740 (print) | LCCN 2019026741 (eBook) |

  ISBN 9781534440074 (paperback) | ISBN 9781534440098 (hardcover) |

  ISBN 9781534440081 (eBook)

  Subjects: CYAC: Moving, Household—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | Korean Americans—Fiction. | Single-parent families—Fiction. | Grief—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.L419 Min 2020 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.L419 (eBook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026740

  LC eBook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026741