K-Pop Confidential

A Korean-American girl finds her voice and has to navigate the complex world of K-pop stardom in this contemporary rom-com about following your heart and staying true to yourself in the process, for fans of Mary H. K. Choi and Maurene Goo.

Candace Park's life is all planned out. She takes all AP classes, helps her parents at their dry cleaner, and spends what little free time she has watching Rupaul's Drag Race. Then there's graduation, college, and a "Real Job." What her parents and friends don't really know, though, is that she has a secret passion: singing. But what's the point? She's never seen an Asian-American girl make it big as a singer-songwriter anyway.So when Candace enters a K-pop audition at the mall on a dare, she doesn't expect to actually win. She definitely doesn't expect to plunge headfirst into the grueling world of a K-pop trainee. Especially when her parents don't approve of it...at all.But when they offer her the chance to travel to Seoul, South Korea to train at the top Korean music company in the world, how can she pass it up? The only problem is, in addition to the round-the-clock singing lessons, dance rehearsals, and beauty treatments, Candace has to agree to follow the uber-strict rules of a trainee. The most important of which is: NO DATING. But it becomes pretty much impossible to follow when Candace finds herself in the middle of a love triangle between a sweet boy trainee and a superstar member of the hottest boy band in the world.Will all of her hard work be wasted if she follows her heart? Or can she be the perfect, hair-flipping idol and stay true to herself at the same time?

Author: Stephan Lee
Publisher: Point
Published: 09/15/2020
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Library Binding
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781338640021
Audience: Young Adult

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.9
Point Value: 13
Interest Level: Middle Grade Plus
Quiz #/Name: 510839 / K-Pop Confidential

About the Author
Stephan is a YA enthusiast, ardent K-pop fan, and journalist. He currently works as Senior Editor at Bustle after a five-year stretch covering books and movies at Entertainment Weekly. At EW, he traveled to Seoul for three weeks to write a feature about Korean entertainment's world domination, interviewing K-pop idols Ailee, Tablo, and Tiffany Young of Girls Generation. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing at The New School.