Customer Reviews

Good Enough

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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This stand-out debut novel clearly benefits from Paula Yoo's own life experiences, but is a delightful and engaging piece of fiction unto itself. Like all good speechwriters and storytellers, Paula Yoo opens with a joke, and you're rooting for her heroine Patti Yoon by the bottom of Page One. Cute boys were certainly the center of MY Universe in high school, and Patti's constant distraction by Cute Trumpet Guy is both believeable and, thanks to Yoo's evocative writing, totally understandable.

Immediately and firmly planted in her world, the reader is thoroughly invested in Patti's struggles, and ultimately in her triumphs. Yoo exposes issues of pressure and prejudice with honesty, and Patti learns to stand up against them, pleasing both herself and her reader. I've never even so much as handled a violin, but Patti is such an authentic and accessible character that I, too, found "the scent of rosin dust and the varnished maple wood of [her] violin" comforting. I have just finished the book and am on a trip, but when I return home I plan to try Patti's mom's spam recipe number 3, Spam Kimbap, and in my opinion, any book that can sell me on the idea of buying spam has definitely taken its reader into a new world and gotten its message across.

In addition to brains and talent, there is beauty, strength, and joy in home-perm survivor Patti Yoon, and it's a true pleasure to be with her when she discovers and embraces these qualities. "Good Enough"'s message of self-discovery and empowerment is one all teens should hear, and Paula Yoo deserves the critical praise she is receiving for her artful delivery of it.

O.M.G. I feel like I haven't read a really good young adult novel since I took YA Literature last spring with Loretta Gaffney. AHHHHH Paula Yoo's first YA novel, Good Enough, (HarperCollins Feb 2008) totally blew my socks off. Patti is a high school senior with perfect grades and perfect helicopter parents. Although my parents weren't as overbearing as hers, much of the story (including all the SPAM references!) totally resonated with me. My brother and I were expected to perform well in school, be obedient, don't ask questions, be an officer/leader in every club/organization/team, attend church diligently, hang out with good kids, become a doctor and/or lawyer (or marry one, as Patti says), and live happily ever after. Well, neither my brother nor I became a doctor or lawyer (or married one) but I think we're all living happily ever after anyway, and our parents are pretty happy with us too. They tell us (now) that they want us to be happy and be with people who make us happy. And doing just that - being happy - seems like an elusive dream for Patti as she struggles with what is happiness and what is success, and can the two ever be the same? Like a good story, the ending of Good Enough is not neatly tied up but rather leaves open the possibilities for Patti to choose her own path to happiness. (I also posted this review on my blog: readingspark.blogspot.com)

THIS BOOK IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST-READ.

Good Enough by Paula Yoo is the fantastic and funny story of Patti, a Korean-American girl dealing with her parents' expectations and restrictions (Get good grades! Don't date boys! Get into HarvardYalePrinceton!) during her senior year of high school.

Patti is an impressive student and an honored violinist. If only she could celebrate her musical talent herself, on her own terms. Her parents think it's a just another way to get into college, and that prevents her from considering it a true talent. That is, until she meets a trumpet player who makes her think twice about the life her parents have planned out for her and starts thinking for herself.

Good Enough is not about rebelling against your parents, nor breaking the rules. It's about knowing that it's okay to question the rules and to have your own beliefs and dreams.

This book is seriously funny. Don't misunderstand me - the book does not rely on jokes and punchlines, and Patti is not a comedienne. The book is funny because it's true. It relates events that are humiliating when they happen but hilarious in retrospect. It takes SAT problems and applies them to Patti's everyday life. There's plenty of math and music humor mixed in with test prep, church meetings, and college applications. The short chapters are supplemented with footnotes, Spam recipes, and quirky chapter titles, such as How to Make Your Korean Parents Happy. I have read passages out loud to customers. The writing is witty and fun without compromising the reality of Patty's situation. Seriously funny.

Good Enough will definitely appeal to fans of Michele Jaffe's Bad Kitty, Maureen Johnson's Girl at Sea, and Justina Chen Headley's Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies).

Length:: 4:19 Mins

Girlfriendology is a place for inspiration, appreciation and celebration of female friendship. While "Good Enough" mainly focuses on the cute trumpet boy and Patti's crush on him, it also offers up inspiration for high school students and grown ups who deal with the need to feel 'good enough.' PAULA YOO talked with Girlfriendology.com about her debut novel, similarities and differences between her and Patti Yoon and even played a beautiful violin solo for Girlfriendology.

Thanks PAULA YOO! For writing a wonderful book and for taking time to talk with Girlfriendology!
[...]

This book is smart, funny, and genuine. If you are, were, or know an intelligent, driven teen this one's for you!

I just finished Paula Yoo's first Young Adult Novel, "Good Enough". I never in my life thought that a young adult novel about a Korean-American girl in high school would mean a thing to me, considering that I'm a middle-aged, gay white male. But I just finished the book with tears in my eyes. It didn't matter that the heroine of the book was a high school girl. It didn't matter that she was Korean-American. It didn't even matter that she had overbearing parents who refused to see what SHE wanted out of life instead of what THEY wanted out of her life. (My parents weren't like that at all.)

What did matter was how universal the theme of growing up and searching for your path in life is to just about everyone. It didn't hurt that one of those paths she wanted to follow was music, as music has played a major role in the path my life has taken. I especially loved the passages where the heroine, Patti, begins to learn about rock and roll; that music isn't only Brahms, Beethoven and Mendelssohn, just as her friend, Ben, begins to learn that music isn't all the Clash, the Ramones and the Sex Pistols.

As Patti makes her way through the minefield of her senior year of high school, there are events of extreme joy. There are also events of absolute frustration and sadness. But it all adds up to a story of heartbreaking beauty and hope for the future.

I wish I could have read this book when I was in my late teens. A story like this could have helped me realize that I wasn't alone in my frustration and that despite all the roadblocks, the future is always full of hope and possibilities when you're young. I doubt that knowledge would have changed any of the decisions I made way back then, but it certainly would have helped making them a whole lot easier.

This is a beautifully written book and was a complete pleasure to read. Paula may not be as young as she was in high school anymore, but on the strengths of this book, the future is still full of hope and possibilities for her.

GOOD ENOUGH by Paula Yoo is the story of Patti Yoon, a Korean-American girl struggling to meet her strict parents' demands, and trying to find herself during her senior year of high school. A straight-A student, and master violinist, anyone would think that Patti has a bright future ahead of her. However, it is simply not good enough for her parents. She must get a 2300 or above on her SATs, participate in every church activity, and get into Harvard/Yale/Princeton.

However, this plan is put a little bit off track when Patti meets Ben Wheeler, a trumpet player in her state orchestra. Ben exposes her to new music, a new crush, and new dreams. Patti begins to wonder what life would be like without the perfect plan, without Harvard/Yale/Princeton, and with her love of music to guide her down the right path.

Will her passion for playing the violin trump all the demands her parents make of her? Will she turn out fine without attending the perfect college?

GOOD ENOUGH is a hysterical, wonderful book with a lovable main character and realistic situations. With chapter headings inspired by Spam and the SATs, teenagers will find it easy to relate to Patti as she sets off on a righteous path of self-discovery. One thing's for certain: GOOD ENOUGH is more than good enough. It's a fantastic, unique book that will keep you laughing long after your first read.

Reviewed by: Amanda Dissinger

Patti Yoon has been trying 110% all her life- in school, at the youth group, with the violin, and also generally avoiding boys (they will distract her from her studies, her parents say). Playing the violin though brings Patti into this new world, where pressure doesn't exist and it's just brilliant music. And after winning the title of assistant concertmaster instead of the actual concertmaster (which she has been for the past 3 years) as well as meeting Cute Trumpet Guy, it all sets off a chain of events that lead Patti into learning that she needs to think about what she wants rather than what other people want from her.

In Paula's debut book for the YA audience, she writes extremely effectively about an overworked, pressured girl finding her way in the world. One of the things that really pulled me into the book was the whole music aspect- it was so prominent in this book, and I don't think I've seen any book that puts this much emphasis on it. It was great to read about Paula's passion, and it definitely came through as a big passion. Also adding to the story were occasional footnotes (which is one of my fave things to see in novels), Top 10 lists, and Korean recipes featuring Spam. The characters are all well-drawn and fun to read about, especially Patti, and make this book a real page-turner. This is one book you don't want to miss from an author I'm sure you'll be hearing more from in the future!

Patti's parents only want the best for their perfect Korean daughter. She's expected to get into an Ivy League school but all she really wants to do is play her violin. Getting a less than perfect score on the SAT's, in her parent's opinion, is not good enough.

When Patti meets a guy named Ben, she decides she doesn't want to be perfect all the time, she wants to have some fun. She sneaks out with Ben to go to a concert that her parents don't know about, but things go wrong.

I like the cover of this book because of how descriptive it was. The book had a few slow places but once it picked up it got really good and interesting. The character Patti is very relatable and her conversations realistic. I related to her because she about my same age (in her teens) and she worries about regular teen things like boys, school, and her future.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a teenager girl. I haven't read anything else by Paula Yoo but if I find another book she's written I definately would read it.

Originally posted at 3 Book Bees

this was the best book ever. i would read it over and over again. it would be sad if you didnt read this book