Ambrosia Lee Drops the Mic

Gr 8 Up–Ambrosia Lee is a failed child actor. After Korean American Brosh got fired from her dream gig on Jump! Rope! Jungle! for going through puberty and no longer being the perfect, skinny, UAF (Unidentified Asian Female in the biz lingo) they hired at 11 years old, she can’t even land a cleaning commercial because she needs to “lose twenty or gain a hundred” pounds to be marketable. On top of that, her parents are recently divorced, and her dad is marrying his perfect native-born-Korean replacement for her ex-punk mom from Queens, complete with a second chance at a daughter who won’t disappoint him. When she is ghosted by her ex at a sold-out Josie Kang comedy show, she invites the cute Korean boy stand-up fan she meets outside the venue hoping to get scalped tickets. Teddy introduces her to a brand-new world of comedy where her pant size doesn’t matter—only her ability to come up with a razor-sharp quip at a moment’s notice and with comedic timing. Teddy seems like a different kind of guy but seems a little too tolerant of toxic masculinity, which puts readers and Brosh on notice. Park adeptly portrays the dog-eat-dog-world of acting, the seedy underbelly of the stand-up mic circuit, and the inherent racism and sexism of both. There is discussion of disordered eating that was experienced by the protagonist, and it is handled thoughtfully, but some teens may need a trigger warning.