Meet Ellen Oh

author of Finding Junie Kim

What’s Finding Junie Kim about?

It’s a story about a young Korean American girl who is bullied terribly and goes to school where racist graffiti is found. As she struggles with her own life, she is assigned an oral history project and she decides to record her grandparents stories and they share with her their experiences of being children during the Korean War, which then helps Junie come to terms with her own problems.

What was the inspiration behind Finding Junie Kim?

It started with a story my mother told me all my life about when she was a little girl who was separated from her parents during the Korean War. I always thought it was kind of like a fairy tale until my aunt came from S. Korea and she and my mom began reminiscing about that long journey and I suddenly realized it was all true. So that became the impetus behind wanting to write a story about the Korean War. But as I was researching for this story, racist graffiti was being found in schools all over my county, and my children were suffering from increased acts of racism and bullying. So the book became more than the war. It became a story about my children, about depression, about racism, about family and friendship and the bonds that help make us stronger people.

What other books have you written?           

I wrote a middle grade fantasy novel called The Dragon Egg Princess about a boy with no magic who meets a lost princess who is also the last dragon in the world. And I wrote two Spirithunters books about a girl who can see ghosts and how she has to protect the ones she loves from evil spirits. I also have a YA fantasy series called the Prophecy series about a girl warrior who fights demons that eat people’s organs and wear their skin like a Halloween costume. 

What is your favorite type of story to write?

Scary stuff. It’s because I grew up with parents that loved to tell me really horrifying stories about monsters that liked to eat children named Ellen. So it’s all their fault that I grew up into an adult who’s favorite thing was to frighten my own children. And then I started writing scary stories and I could scare other people’s children also! It’s like I fulfilled my destiny or something. 

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

I’d like to be the Avatar and have all four bending skills, but if I had to pick just one I would probably be an earth bender. Metal bending is the coolest.

If you could have one magical power, what would it be?

My younger me would have asked for the power to grant wishes, specifically my own. But as I grow older I realize that what I would love is the power to heal, not just physical, but mental and emotional wounds, because that would be a great gift to have. 

About Ellen

Ellen Oh is a former adjunct college instructor and lawyer with an insatiable curiosity for ancient Asian history. She loves martial arts films, K-pop, K-dramas, and cooking shows, and is a rabid fan of the Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra series. Ellen is the co-founder of We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing diversity in children’s literature. Originally from New York City, Ellen lives in Potomac, Maryland, with her husband and three children and has yet to satisfy her quest for a decent bagel.