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    I'll Be the One
    I'll Be the One
    I'll Be the One
    Ebook300 pages4 hours

    I'll Be the One

    By Lyla Lee

    4/5

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    Diverse book recommended by The Today Show * A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year * Bank Street Best Book of the Year * YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults * ALA’s Rainbow Book List Top 10 for Teen Readers

    The world of K-Pop has never met a star like this. Debut author Lyla Lee delivers a deliciously fun, thoughtful rom-com celebrating confidence and body positivity—perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Julie Murphy.

    Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.

    She’ll challenge thousands of other performers in an internationally televised competition looking for the next K-pop star, and she’ll do it better than anyone else.

    When Skye nails her audition, she’s immediately swept into a whirlwind of countless practices, shocking performances, and the drama that comes with reality TV. What she doesn’t count on are the highly fat-phobic beauty standards of the Korean pop entertainment industry, her sudden media fame and scrutiny, or the sparks that soon fly with her fellow competitor, Henry Cho.

    But Skye has her sights on becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star, and that means winning the competition—without losing herself.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateJun 16, 2020
    ISBN9780062936943
    Author

    Lyla Lee

    Lyla Lee is the bestselling author of young adult novels like I’ll Be the One and Flip the Script. She also writes the Mindy Kim series for younger readers and the Gigi Shin books for the middle school crowd. Her books have been translated into multiple languages around the world. Born in South Korea, she’s since then lived in various cities throughout the United States. 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. Visit Lyla at LylaLeeBooks.com or on Instagram, X (previously known as Twitter), and TikTok @LiteraryLyla.

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    Reviews for I'll Be the One

    4/5

    62 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This was a pretty good book with a fun story. The things that I liked about this story where the romance between Skye and Henry, the body positivity demonstrated by Skye's character about being fat/plus-sized and that you can do what you enjoy and are good at no matter what you look like or what other people say.
      The other thing that was thought-provoking for me was the examination, description, and discussion about the troubled relationship between Skye and her mother and how Skye tried to understand her mother and accept the relationship she had with her even though it wasn't what she wanted. It also reminded me of how sometimes we have to accept people and our relationships with them as they are and that they won't always change to what we want because sometimes one or other of the people in a relationship just can't or won't work to meet and compromise on things.
      It's got some good messages in this story with the body positivity, about self-esteem, self-confidence, sticking up for yourself, chasing your dreams, and learning to accept and love yourself as well as others as you are and as they are.
    • 5/5
      This reads like a K-Drama. There were so many little details that get forgotten in the grand scheme of things but it was a simply entertaining book to read. I would consider this like a "book candy book" its simple, fun, and small enough to read in a few hours. Very fun read.
    • 5/5
      A quick, fun read with body positivity and bi representation as well as a sweet romance.
    • 4/5
      I'll Be the One is a 2021 Lone Star Selection.Skye, a Korean-American, competes in a Korean talent competition where the best dancer and best singer win the competition and receive training in South Korea. Skye lives pretty much on her own--her parents occupy little of the novel. Her mother shames her for being fat--telling her/implying she is an embarrassment. Why can't she lose weight? Skye's mother sees Skye's weight as evidence that she's a poor mother. Skye's father works in northern California, so she only sees him every other weekend. He supports her completely. The novel completely focuses on Skye's ambition. She refuses to let people tell her she is less of a person because of her weight. The novel begins with the first audition for the show. One judge tells her immediately that she shouldn't try out because competing in a K-Pop competition means that Koreans don't approve of people being overweight. If she can't be disciplined enough to lose weight, she obviously can't make it in this difficult industry. Skye, however, knows that she is a great dancer and singer.Skye's school life takes up little of the novel. You do know she continues to study because her mother will make her quit the show if her grades drop. She keeps up with two friends. It's her new friends that we really meet. One dance competitor is a famous Korean model. Skye remains focused and assumes he is arrogant. When they end up paired for one dance competition, she discovers he is a careful, kind, and misunderstood guy. Ultimately, Skye finds real people who are talented to be her friends instead of uptight divas who are ready to crush the other people that viewers assume exist on these talent shows. Skye and her new friends are amazing. You'll want Skye to win against those who make pig noises to show that talent is what shines and makes a person amazing, not her weight.The novel supports diversity. She's Korean-American, overweight, and bi-sexual who makes friends with a gay couple. It's real life. The novel shows that we enjoy people and make friends with people who care for one another instead of people who judge.
    • 4/5
      Korean-American teen Skye loves K-Pop, and she's been dancing and singing since she was small. When she gets through the qualifying round to audition for You're My Shining Star, a K-Pop televised singing and dancing competition, she's determined to give it her best. Her supportive dad signs the paperwork, but her mom expresses nothing but negativity toward Skye, due to her size. Skye works hard to maintain her body positivity despite her mom, internet trolls, and a competition judge who thinks that there's no place in the industry for bodies like Skye's. Along the way, she makes some great new friendships and even a sweet romantic connection with the guy she least expects to like. But can she make it all the way to the top?I must admit that I know hardly anything about K-Pop, other than that it's grown in popularity in the US over the past few years. However, even those in the same boat will be able to follow along easily with this story, especially if you enjoy shows like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. If this story has a drawback, it's that everything is pretty straightforward: it follows the structure and progress of the competition, so there's the constant "will she or won't she?" tension at every elimination round, but the secondary characters are all pretty static, the romance progresses fairly smoothly, and the negative characters (Skye's mom, the negative judge) are over-the-top abusive and irredeemable. However, I can see this being a highly enjoyable story for teens who like K-Pop, musical competitions, and stories with fierce, body-positive heroines.I listened to the audiobook, and had to speed it up because the narrator's speaking pace was so leisurely. I rarely speed up my audiobooks, so if I notice that the speaking pace is slow, it's really slow. However, since most players offer the option to increase the speed, it's not really an issue, I suppose.
    • 5/5
      This book is a home run, touching so many bases (issues/topics) relevant to teens right now. Skye has had to endure her mother's incessant harping about her being overweight ever since she hit puberty. While her dad is supportive, the tight California job market left him no choice but to work in the San Francisco area and fly home every other weekend. Singing and dance are the fuel keeping Skye alive and able to endure Mom. When she decides to take a risk and enter the first K-Pop competition in the US, it's her father who signs the paperwork. She decides to go whole hog and compete in both the song and dance competitions. The process is at times cutthroat with other contestants, one staff member, and plenty of internet trolls trying to shame/dissuade her, but the more they try, the stiffer her backbone becomes. In the process of competing, she makes friends with several other girls, including two lesbians who live together at college and have experienced the same sort of family shunning and shaming as has Skye. There's also Henry Cho the male model who appears to be shallow and get preferential treatment from the show staff and the press, but the longer he and Skye remain in the running, the more she sees the hidden Henry.Teens who are gay, bi, or questioning, who have experienced family shaming or judgement and those who want to take a risk as a way to grow, will love this book. Bonus points for having not one, but multiple strong female characters. It's an excellent book for all school and public libraries to own.

    Book preview

    I'll Be the One - Lyla Lee

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