Jessica Kim: Hi, I'm Jessica Kim and I'm the author of Stand Up, Yumi Chung! I wrote Stand Up, Yumi Chung! because I really wanted to explore what it means to be a second-generation American, like myself. Somebody who was born and raised in the United States by immigrant parents. And I was really fascinated with the way that second-generation Americans toggle between two cultures, and what happens when those values collide.

It was difficult to write comedy in this form. I think so much of comedy relies on things like your pacing, or your delivery, or even the way your face looks. And to be able to deliver comedy straight through text was a skill I had to learn. And it took many, many tries before we chose the jokes that went into the books.

I think my favorite part was writing about Yumi's family. There's so many things that are very particular to her experience that I think a lot of people will be able to relate to. I think there's a lot of little easter eggs that I hid in there, for other people who are coming from my community, where they will be able to really understand or laugh along with her.

It was great to go on that journey again as an 11-year-old child and grapple with what it means to find your voice and what it means to find your place, not only in your family, but in the world. And what to do when you can't please everybody.

And I'll be reading from Chapter One of Stand Up, Yumi Chung!

I should have known better than to think that anyone would listen to me at the Korean beauty salon.

"You want the perm?" asks the stylist in leather pants, running her fingers through my limp hair.

"Uh, I was thinking," I sputter, showing her my phone, "maybe you can give me something like this instead?"

After scrolling through Pinterest for "hairstyle make-over" all week, I've settled on this sleek pixie cut. It's definitely shorter than anything I've ever had before, but maybe that's exactly what I need before seventh grade starts next month. A change. Something bold for the New Me.

Mom emerges from the dressing room in a shiny black robe and plucks the phone from my hands in one swift motion.

"Yumi, no." She raises a generously penciled-in eyebrow. "Too short. You will look like a boy from BTS!"

"Mom!" I grab my phone back, ignoring the three robed aunties (who aren't really even my aunties) laughing in the chairs next to me. "This is a really popular hairstyle these days."