I just love Jessica Kim’s books! This one was a delight to read. Written with so much heart and emotion, I didn’t want the story to end!! Sunny is a 12 year old girl who is starting to realize she might be tired of living in the shadow of her best friend Bailey. Even though I’m a 40-something mom of my own tween, I could relate to this feeling! I was rooting for Sunny the whole time and just wanted to see her come into her own. The dance team dynamics and routines were so fun to read about, and of course I loved all the Korean food references. Loved it all!2 s Christy Broderick?592 15

Sunny is just as much of a k-pop fanatic as me! She not only loves k-pop, but she loves dance and has a best friend that has been there for a lot. However, when these things mix, they don’t always see eye-to-eye. As Sunny has gotten older, her and her BFF are starting to drift apart. When Sunny gets the opportunity to join a dance team, she meets two new friends who are into the same interests as her (especially trying to get concert tickets to see their favorite k-pop group live). I could relate to a lot of the growing pains that comes with getting older, making new friends, and letting go to those who we aren’t as close with anymore. I really enjoyed the story and can’t wait to see more from Jessica Kim!1 Rebecca2,510 28

Sunny, who is Korean-American, has social anxiety, and loves dance and K-Pop almost as much as she hates disappointing or angering her best friend, Bailey. Bailey has no interest in K-Pop and persuaded Sunny to drop ballet, which Sunny loved, just after Sunny had been cast as Clara in the Nutcracker. Now, Bailey is struggling with her parents' separation and her mom's new boyfriend, who could soon become her stepfather. She persuades Sunny to try out for the school dance team, but when Bailey has a breakdown during tryouts, Sunny makes it and Bailey doesn't. Sunny wants to drop out, but her mother persuades her to give it a try, and Sunny learns that she loves it--and she makes two new friends, Bea and Jadyn, who love K-Pop as well, particularly Sunny's favorite group, Supreme Beats. Soon the three of them are scheming about how to earn enough money to attend a concert in SF (with Sunny's Halmoni [grandmother] as their chaperone, since she also loves Supreme Beats), but Sunny's also doin a lot of lying to Bailey about, well, everything. What will win out in the end, Sunny's fear of Bailey's anger or disapproval, or her love of dance, K-Pop, and her new friends?

This is another great one, so topical, with lots of details about dance teams, K-Pop fandom, and everything else. For instance, I loved that Sunny's parents design and build parade floats for a living--love the quirky detail of that! Her relationship with her grandmother is lovely, too, and their Korean heritage is an effortless part of their lives rather than a struggle. Sunny makes a lot of poor decisions, some based on her anxiety, but most based on her fear of Bailey, and the author shows how Sunny starts to really understand the issue in an organic if predictable way. This is such a common middle school experience, growing away from former besties (been there, done that myself), and it's really good for kids to see what's happening and maybe apply that knowledge to their own lives. I also loved the representation of fandom, and how some people denigrate it, but they shouldn't because it's a ton of fun! Don't be ashamed of your fandoms, peeps! Overall a winner, though I'll admit I had to read it backwards because I could see the meltdown and its cause coming from almost the start, and it was too suspenseful for me because I'm a wimp that. Thanks to Libro.FM for a free educator copy of the audiobook.children drama family-story ...more Pam Page1,243

A great middle school book with characters and friendship problems kids will relate to. The character flaws are so realistic and represents middle schoolers well. Sunny struggles with social anxiety and being honest with her friends, values her relationship with her Korean grandma, and uses her ingenuity to earn money to buy tickets to see her favorite K-pop group. From the author of Stand Up, Yumi Chung, a book middle schoolers will love!children-s-realistic-fiction Glenna Coleman177 4

The title suits this book on many levels. I enjoyed experiencing the main character, Sunny, navigating friendships and learning to stand up for herself and her needs and wants so as not always to give in to others. I also enjoyed experiencing Sunny's family dynamics and how they contributed to her sense of self. 1 LS Johnson1,478

Even if you friend has been your BFF since you were little, they should not control you. There was a lot of deception and lying through a majority of the book and most of the plot was built on those lies. Boundaries were eventually established. Of course I loved Sunny’s grandma!read-mg-2023 Beth347

Extremely well written book about navigating friendships and how they might change during middle school. Will definitely recommend to my middle grade students. Nikki226 2

Jessica Kim has done it again. This is a great story about family, friendship, and following your dreams! I also recommend Stand Up, Yumi Chung by this author. Marie1,321 12 Read

EpicFest 2024 author. This was such a fun read with so much heart. I loved it, and will be adding Jessica Kim's other books to my TBR.fiction great-middle-grades own-voices Laura277 4 Read

This is darling! I loved Sunny. LeeAnn1,427 2

Highly recommend! Kpop fans, this is the book you've been waiting for! A perfect middle grade read for kpop fans. Susan McGilvray1,190 6

Really good story about shifting friendships and navigating middle school. Highly recommend!2023-fall Catherine2,133 25

Great book about navigating toxic friendships. Seoyeon Kim4

all about friendship, school, and more! Love this representation of korean-american culture!!! Jessie35

This had a lot of great life lessons in it, especially about healthy friendships. Highly recommend it for upper elementary students! Sarah271 4

This take on friendship felt really fresh to me. Delightful stuff here! Lisa2,356 14

Sunny and Bailey have been friends for years. They even took ballet classes together. But when Bailey tired of dancing, she made Sunny quit, too. Now, Bailey wants Sunny to try out for the 7th grade dance team with her (Bailey has an ulterior motive.) When Sunny makes the team, and Bailey does not, Sunny's mom convinces her to try the team for a week before she decides, and Sunny makes some new friends. They are different from Bailey - they are nice to her, and they also love Sunny's favorite K-Pop band, the Supreme Beats.

There is a lot to love about Make a Move, Sunny Park. While Sunny has social anxiety, she doesn't use it as an excuse, and she has a therapist. I loved that there was a boy on the dance squad. I loved that the energy between Sunny and Bailey didn't just start with a huge fight - I loved that Sunny worked through both the dissolving relationship with Bailey as well as learning to balance having other friends as well - which didn't happen gracefully. I d that her new friends were honest with her. This would work nicely in a book group. Sunny is Korean.

Cross posted to http://kissthebook.blogspot.com Ms. Yingling2,399 495

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Stand Up, Yumi Chung's cousin Sunny Park isn't quite as gregarious as her relative in Los Angeles. While she's taken ballet with her long time best friend Bailey, she has a lot of social anxiety and feels better dancing if she can do it at home, filming to upload, while wearing an inflatable dinosaur costume. She is enamored with the K-Pop band Supreme Beats and is active on their discussion forum, but Bailey thinks they are silly. Bailey is also the reason Sunny quit ballet; Sunny got a better role in the production of The Nutcracker than Bailey did, and Bailey's parents split, so she quit dance and pressured Sunny to do the same. Now, Bailey thinks that if she tries out for the school dance team at Rancho Mesa Middle School, she can trick her parents into getting back together when they come to watch her perform, even though her mother is now dating Darren. Sunny agrees to try out as well. She practices a lot, and meets Bea and Jayden at the tryouts. Bea knows Sunny from the Supreme Beats forum, and Jayden is the only boy trying out for the squad. On the day of tryouts, Bailey finds out her mother has gotten engaged to Darren, has a melt down, and doesn't try out. Sunny helps her get home after doing a solid job of dancing. Sunny makes the team while Bailey does not, and decides that she will try out the team for a week and then quit. She ends up enjoying it so much that she stays on the team, which makes her relationship with Bailey a bit strained. Sunny's grandmother, Halmoni, lives with Sunny's family and is helpful in convincing Sunny to stay on the team and have some activities that don't involve Bailey. The dance team hopes to make it to a regional competition in San Francisco, and Bea, Jayden, and Sunny try to earn enough money to go to the concert, with Halmoni as their chaperone, but this also means lying to Bailey. Bailey is convinced that Darren is cheating on her mother, and spies on him trying to get proof. Sunny finds herself more and more irritated with Bailey, and enjoys being around her new friends and involved in the dance team more than she enjoys Bailey. It doesn't help that Bailey is mean to her friends, and often calls Sunny away from activities that involve dance team to deal with her crises. When Bailey's mother moves her wedding up to the weekend of the dance competition, Sunny lets her know that this is something she just can't drop. When will Bailey start to support Sunny in the same way that Sunny has supported Bailey?
Strengths: Losing a friend in middle school is such a common occurrence that I am surprised there are not more books about friends who part ways. Bailey is very self involved, which is not an uncommon trait in middle school students, and Sunny is terrified of losing her long time friend. I did enjoy the fact that Sunny made the dance team and enjoyed it even though she tried out just to please Bailey! Bea and Jayden are much more pleasant friends to have, and its good to see them connect and do activities together. Sunny's homelife is interesting; her parents run a parade float making business! Halmoni is a calm and constant presence in Sunny's life, and it wasn't a surprise to read that the character was based on Kim's own grandmother. I love that the grandmother still dances and isn't decrepit at... probably my age! Even though there were some problems in the story, they were every day middle grade ones, this wasn't a sad book. I'm not sure how many of my readers are into K-Pop, but Florence's Sweet and Sour has circulated very well in my library, so my students must not mind it at all!
Weaknesses: There was a lot going on in this book, and there were several plot lines that could have been removed to make this a tighter story. 352 pages is a bit long for a middle grade book. Also, did we have to mention sending Halmoni back to Korea? That just made me unnecessarily sad!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and I think this will be a popular choice with readers who want the ever popular "friend drama" books! 1 Lindsay52

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me with an ARC of this title. Sometimes you just have to dance it out…in an inflatable dinosaur costume. Tackling middle school when you have anxiety is hard, but Sunny has a great support system to help. At least, she thought she did. When she makes the school dance team and begins building new friendships without her longtime BFF Bailey, things begin to spiral out of control. Sunny tries to balance the different aspects of her life, but can she keep it all together? Jessica Kim captures the struggles of friendship in the latest addition to her middle grade repertoire. She provides a sensitive and thoughtful look at a toxic friendship through Sunny and Bailey. The book provides an excellent contrast between healthy and unhealthy relationships. Kim also does an excellent job of portraying a flawed main character who makes mistakes, faces consequences to her actions, and uses her experiences to grow as a person. As a former dancer in my childhood, I also loved the dance team elements in the book. Kim captured the camaraderie of being in this environment. This would be a great pick for anyone starting/about to start middle school, dancers, or K-Pop fans! TheNextGenLibrarian2,295 34

A delightful MG follow up to Stand Up, Yumi Chung!

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