Pippa Park Raises Her Game Book Review

Pippa Park Raises Her Game
By Erin Yun
Expected publication: February 2020

The Premise:
Great Expectations for modern middle graders with a female Korean-American Pip.

Mom's Review:
Seventh grade Pippa Park lives with her sister and brother-in-law in the US; her mother lives in Korea. Pippa is an exceptional basketball player but a poor mathematician, and her sister has stipulated math grades must rise before Pippa can rejoin the school's basketball team. Shortly after the start of the school year, Pippa is offered a basketball scholarship to an elite private school. She accepts and tries to reinvent herself as totally cool and confident. Between academics, basketball, working at her sister's laundromat, coping with her mother's poor health half a world away, trying to fit in at the new school, and enduring a cyberbully's attacks, it is small wonder that Pippa struggles to meet all her obligations and fails.

All in all, Pippa Park Raises Her Game is a fast read. Pippa and her best friend Buddy are relatable, her brother-in-law is admirable and sympathetic, and mean girls Bianca and Caroline are delightfully detestable. At a certain point, readers will be disgusted with Pippa – she denies herself, her family, and Buddy. But she is relatable in her insecurity, her poor choices, and also her efforts to make amends.

In the end, Pippa stands up for herself, recognizes her true friends, and realizes what she values.  The quick pace of the book, a bit middle-school romance, and some mean-girl drama, make for an exciting page turner. Middle grade and middle school students will find a fun, tense, and gratifying novel in Pippa Park Raises Her Game.


Note: An Advance Reading Copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.