Mindy Kim and the yummy seaweed business / by Lyla Lee ; illustrated by Dung Ho.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Fresh Off the Boat meets Junie B. Jones in this first novel in an adorable new chapter book series about Mindy Kim, a young Asian American girl who is starting a snack business!

Mindy Kim just wants three things:
1. A puppy!
2. To fit in at her new school
3. For her dad to be happy again

But, getting all three of the things on her list is a lot trickier than she thought it would be. On her first day of school, Mindy's school snack of dried seaweed isn't exactly popular at the lunch table. Luckily, her new friend, Sally, makes the snacks seem totally delicious to Mindy's new classmates, so they decide to start the Yummy Seaweed Business to try and raise money for that puppy!

When another student decides to try and sabotage their business, Mindy loses more than she bargained for--and wonders if she'll ever fit in. Will Mindy be able to overcome her uncertainty and find the courage to be herself?

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Chapter 1 Chapter 1 My name is Mindy Kim. I'm seven and a half years old. That's old enough to ride a bike around our street, but not old enough to have my own puppy--or at least that's what my dad said. I don't really agree with him, but our old apartment in California wasn't big enough for a puppy anyway. I looked it up, and the experts on the Internet say that puppies need lots of room to run outdoors. Now that we've moved into a house with a big backyard, we can really get a puppy! I just have to convince my dad that it's a good idea first. So far, no such luck. Dad wants me to prove that I can be "responsible" enough for a puppy first... and then he'll "consider" getting me one. I decorated my own room to show Dad I'm "responsible." I'm trying to be more grown-up, so I only put three dog stuffed animals on my bed. There are ten more under my bed, but Dad doesn't need to know that. They'll just have to take turns. After I finished, I was looking through a website on huskies, one of my favorite kinds of dogs, when I heard Dad say, "Mindy? Can you help me with these boxes?" CRASH! "Dad!" I ran downstairs to see him standing over a box of broken dishes. "Oh no!" he said. "These were your mom's favorites." He looked so sad, like he was about to cry. I wished I'd brought one of my stuffed dogs with me. I'd even let him hug Snowball, my favorite white husky. I miss Mom, but I know Dad misses her a lot more. She died a few months ago because she was really sick for a long time. Excerpted from Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business by Lyla Lee All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1--3--Seven-and-a-half-year-old Mindy Kim and her dad have moved from California to Florida in the wake of her mother's death. Mindy is not excited about starting at a new school. All her friends are back in California, but Mindy is determined to form a new social circle. When she shares her yummy seaweed snacks, she discovers lots of kids suddenly want to talk to her. Her excitement only builds as she and her newest friend develop plans for a snack business. But when things do not go as planned and Mindy lands in the principal's office, will she be able to find any new friends? Reminiscent of Barbara Park's "Junie B. Jones" series but with more emotional depth and life lessons effortlessly woven throughout, this first installment of a new series deals with grief, loss, and how to right a wrong. The slightly smaller type and higher-level vocabulary will appeal to young readers seeking a little more of a challenge than the typical early chapter book. The discussion of Mindy's experiences as a young Asian American student, including bringing 'different' food to lunch and how she looks different from her classmates, is a welcome and necessary perspective. VERDICT A solid choice for incorporating advanced vocabulary into early chapter book collections.--Emily Beasley, Omaha Public Schools

Booklist Review

Mindy Kim misses her mom, who died recently, and she wants a dog. She also just moved to a new school and is eager to fit in. But nothing seems to be working out the way she wants: her dad is so sad about her mom that he won't even consider getting a dog, and nobody looks like her at her new school. Even worse, the other kids laugh at her lunch of rice, kimchi, and seaweed snacks. Things start looking up when her new friend Sally convinces other kids to try the seaweed snacks and then suggests Mindy sell them at lunch. Soon she has a good business going, but when a classmate tells a teacher about her new enterprise, her newfound popularity is threatened, she gets in trouble with her dad, and she loses her friend Sally. Can Mindy turn things around? This appealing chapter book starring a girl dealing with a new school is ideal for emerging readers and the first in a planned series.--Esmeralda Majors Copyright 2020 Booklist

Author notes provided by Syndetics

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.

Dung Ho (pronounced Dzung) is the illustrator of the New York Times bestselling picture book Eyes That Kiss in the Corners , Eyes that Speak to the Stars , Me and Ms. Too , The Mindy Kim books, and many others. Born and raised in Hue, Vietnam, she worked in the design and advertising industries before discovering a great passion for illustration and picture books and becoming a freelance illustrator. She lives and works in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.