Welcome to the Pippa Park Raises Her Game Blog Tour!
To celebrate the release of Pippa Park Raises Her Game by Erin Yun on February 4th, blogs across the web are featuring exclusive original content from Erin, as well as 5 chances to win a finished copy of Pippa, bookmark, sticker, and basketball stress ball!
K-Pop and K-Dramas in Pippa Park Raises Her Game
by Erin Yun
Readers will cheer on Korean American Pippa Park in this compelling middle grade reimagining of Great Expectations. Navigating friendships and cyberbullying at a new school, Pippa reinvents herself and discovers who she really is.
Life is full of great expectations for Korean American Pippa Park. It seems like everyone, from her family to the other kids at school, has a plan for how her life should look. So when Pippa gets a mysterious basketball scholarship to Lakeview Private, she jumps at the chance to reinvent herself by following the “Rules of Cool.”
At Lakeview, Pippa juggles old and new friends, an unrequited crush, and the pressure to perform academically and athletically while keeping her past and her family’s laundromat a secret from her elite new classmates. But when Pippa begins to receive a string of hateful, anonymous messages via social media, her carefully built persona is threatened.
As things begin to spiral out of control, Pippa discovers the real reason she was admitted to Lakeview and wonders if she can keep her old and new lives separate, or if she should even try.
Debut author Erin Yun grew up in Frisco, Texas. She received her BFA in English from New York University and served as president of its policy debate team. This experience came in handy for her job as the debate consultant for the Tony-nominated Best Play on Broadway—What the Constitution Means to Me. Erin is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and has written reviews and articles for BookBrowse. She currently lives in New York City, and yes—she used to play basketball as a middle grader!
About Fabled Films and Fabled Films Press:
Fabled Films is a publishing and entertainment company creating original content for young readers and middle-grade audiences. Fabled Films Press combines strong literary properties with high-quality production values to connect books with generations of parents and their children. Each property is supported by websites, educator guides, and activities for bookstores, educators, and librarians, as well as videos, social media content, and supplemental entertainment for additional platforms.
US/Canada only
Ends 11:59pm ET on 2/14
by Erin Yun
More than once, people have asked me if I’m similar to Pippa, the main character of my novel, Pippa Park Raises Her Game. The answer? Yes and no. Pippa is extroverted and determined, while I’m more of a slow-paced daydreamer. But while our personalities might differ, one thing we share is our taste in both Korean dramas and K-pop. There’s far too many compelling dramas and catchy songs to mention all of our favorites, but here’s a look at the ones that made it into Pippa Park Raises Her Game.
K-Dramas
“I should have started [my homework] the day before, but instead Jung-Hwa and I had binge-watched a bunch of episodes of some old Korean drama about a nun who has to pretend to be her twin brother and take his place in a band.”
Back in high school, I used to stay up horribly late on school nights, watching shows like Boys Over Flowers and Sungkyunkwan Scandal, agonizing over who the lead girl would end up with, and fawning over their swoon-worthy love interests. There’s something incredibly addicting about K-dramas—which Pippa definitely understands. More than once in the book, she finds herself putting off homework in favor of finishing just . . . one . . . more . . . episode. The quote above about the nun who takes her twin’s place in a band (where all the other members begin to fall for her) is a reference to the fabulous You’re Beautiful. I binged this drama in my sophomore year of high school, and to this day, whenever I need a song to cry to I can count on Park Shin-Hye’s passionate rendition of “Without Words.”
Later in the book, Pippa procrastinates again by watching a few episodes of the massively popular Boys Over Flowers. My friend Cindy recommended this one to me, and I don’t know what I adore more—the amazing soundtrack, Gu Jun-Pyo’s flawless hair, or Jan-Di’s ability to land a roundhouse kick. While this drama is only explicitly mentioned once in Pippa Park Raises Her Game, it inspired other details, like my decision to have Pippa’s family own a laundry business.
K-Pop
“Back then, I’d been obsessed with the bands that were huge in Korea—SHINee, Girl’s Generation, Big Bang . . . [but] once I started middle school, it didn’t take me long to realize that nobody even knew who G-Dragon was. I still sometimes blasted songs like “Hot Issue” and “I Am the Best”—but only when nobody was listening.”
Growing up, I got a lot of my K-pop recommendations from asking my cousins or visiting family in Korea. I remember bobbing my shoulders to f(x)’s “Electric Shock” in supermarkets when it first came out and poorly belting out 4Minute’s “Hot Issue” in the privacy of a noraebang. I’m a sucker for angsty songs like Beast’s “Fiction” or Big Bang’s “Haru Haru,” but neither Pippa nor I can resist a catchy beat, which is why, in addition to the songs and groups mentioned in the book, you would definitely find more iconic hits, like “Tell Me” by the Wonder Girls and “Bo Peep Bo Peep” by T-ara, on Pippa’s playlists.
It’s hard not to keep listing bops, but the number of K-pop songs with captivating beats and sensational flair stretches out infinitely (not to mention K-pop’s influence in America continues to skyrocket, with BTS topping the charts and NCT 127 performing at the 2019 Macy’s Parade). I know if I could actually have a conversation with Pippa—and not just in my head—we’d have many more songs to swap. Later, we’d probably binge-watch a new Korean drama together. And sure, she would definitely be procrastinating instead of doing her algebra homework, and I might sleep through all my alarms the next morning, but what can I say? Some things are worth it.
*****
Life is full of great expectations for Korean American Pippa Park. It seems like everyone, from her family to the other kids at school, has a plan for how her life should look. So when Pippa gets a mysterious basketball scholarship to Lakeview Private, she jumps at the chance to reinvent herself by following the “Rules of Cool.”
At Lakeview, Pippa juggles old and new friends, an unrequited crush, and the pressure to perform academically and athletically while keeping her past and her family’s laundromat a secret from her elite new classmates. But when Pippa begins to receive a string of hateful, anonymous messages via social media, her carefully built persona is threatened.
As things begin to spiral out of control, Pippa discovers the real reason she was admitted to Lakeview and wonders if she can keep her old and new lives separate, or if she should even try.
Buy: Amazon | Indiebound
Debut author Erin Yun grew up in Frisco, Texas. She received her BFA in English from New York University and served as president of its policy debate team. This experience came in handy for her job as the debate consultant for the Tony-nominated Best Play on Broadway—What the Constitution Means to Me. Erin is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and has written reviews and articles for BookBrowse. She currently lives in New York City, and yes—she used to play basketball as a middle grader!
About Fabled Films and Fabled Films Press:
Fabled Films is a publishing and entertainment company creating original content for young readers and middle-grade audiences. Fabled Films Press combines strong literary properties with high-quality production values to connect books with generations of parents and their children. Each property is supported by websites, educator guides, and activities for bookstores, educators, and librarians, as well as videos, social media content, and supplemental entertainment for additional platforms.
(1) winner will receive a finished copy of Pippa Park Raises Her Game, bookmark, sticker, and basketball stress ball
US/Canada only
Ends 11:59pm ET on 2/14
Blog Tour Schedule:
February 3rd - Sprinkles of Dreams
February 4th - BookHoundsYA
February 5th - Utopia State of Mind
February 6th - A Dream Within a Dream
February 7th - Word Spelunking
Twenty-one Leagues Under the Sea
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