Publication Date: Feb. 22, 2022
My Thoughts:
This story by first-generation Korean American author Axie Oh is a modern take on a classic Korean folktale, "The Tale of Shim Cheong." Although it is touted as a YA grades 7-9, I think this girl power tale can be read by middle grades too, so I would say 5-9 for mild romance and violence.
It is not necessary to know the original folktale, but I am sure this new rendition, with the spunky, headstrong 16-year old Mina actually doing all the heroine-ing is a feminist spin on the original Tale of Shim Cheong.
The action is fast paced and since Mina is just a girl who loves her family and her community, but has no outward strengths like beauty or fighting skill, she must rely on her wit, her loyalty and her ability to choose the right stories her grandmother taught her. Her grandmother's stories also help her to deal with the very fickle deities and mythological beasts. Lucky for Mina, down deep, most of them share her community values of loyalty to family and community.
Besides being a feminist book, though, I think it is an ecological warning that dissonance in the human world creates dissonance in the oceans and vice versa. Problem solving, then, happens with that understanding that sometimes the solution is not actually to react to what is happening right in front of our eyes, but to trace an issue to the source.
From the Publisher:
Axie Oh's The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is an enthralling feminist retelling of the classic Korean folktale “The Tale of Shim Cheong,” perfect for fans of Wintersong, Uprooted, and Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.
Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. Floods sweep away entire villages, while bloody wars are waged over the few remaining resources. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curses them with death and despair. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea God’s bride, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering.
Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village―and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon―may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.
Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin―as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits―Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.
But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…
Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. Floods sweep away entire villages, while bloody wars are waged over the few remaining resources. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curses them with death and despair. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea God’s bride, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering.
Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village―and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon―may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.
Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin―as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits―Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.
But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…
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