★ Shortlisted for the 2024 International Hans Christian Andersen Award, Lee Geum-yi, known as a pioneer in Korean youth literature, presents another work intimately connected to the hearts of young readers!
★ A youth literature work that continues to resonate since 2006, telling stories of teenagers with diverse styles pursuing dreams that elude definition.
★ A reflection of the genuine care children of this era crave, the book, included in Korean middle school textbooks since its debut in 2006, has become essential reading for countless teenagers.
★ Endorsed by the chief editor of Korea's largest bookstore, Kyobo Book Centre! Holding a steady spot for 8 consecutive weeks on the YES24 Youth Literature Bestseller List.

Lee Geum-yi's nominated youth literature anthology for the 2024 International Hans Christian Andersen Award comprises 5 books:
"Whale in My Pocket"
"Hello, My First Love"
"Cliff"
"Puppet Dance"
"Us in the Land of Giants"

This is a story about the dreams of teenagers, with four 16-year-old high school students as the protagonists, including the handsome Minji dreams of becoming a star, the struggling singer Yanhao faces financial difficulties, the conflicted Junxi is surrounded by love from his adoptive parents but harbors mixed feelings towards his birth mother, and the academically underperforming yet generous Xianzhen. These four distinct characters strive to achieve their small dreams, even when at times those dreams seem distant, but they never give up and provide support to each other.
Whether he/she is a child working hard in his/her studies, aspiring to be a singer, or focusing on computer research to become an IT expert, they all are putting efforts into pursuing their dreams. The message the author wants to convey is not to hinder children from pursuing their dreams based on adult standards but to support their unique aspirations.
In this revised edition, the author further refines the heartfelt psychological descriptions of the youths and portrays the real challenges they are facing. The story delves into changes in social environment, transition of consciousness, and the practical aspects of children's lives, providing a deeper reflection of the evolving social landscape.

Lee Geum-yi
As a famous Korean writer of children's and youth’s literature, born in 1962 in Chungcheongbuk-Do's Cheongwon County and raised in Seoul, she was captivated by the charm of stories from an early age while living with her storytelling grandmother. She read the works of world literature, and dreamed of becoming a writer.
Lee Geum-yi is an indispensable name among contemporary authors writing children and youth literature in South Korea. Since entering the literary scene with fairy tales in 1984, she has dedicated herself to over 50 works of children's literature, catalyzing the explosive growth of Korean children's literature in the 1990s and 2000s. Her contributions extend to fostering youth literature, consistently capturing the attention of Korean readers and literary critics. Her novel “Yu Jin and Yu Jin”, published in 2004, about the theme of "childhood deprivation," caused significant impact on insular society, playing a pivotal role in elevating youth literature to a prominent position in South Korean mainstream literature. It stands as a pioneering work in Korean adolescent literature, which remains a perennial classic. In 2016, she further solidified her leading position in the genre with two historical novels for young adult readers, "The Picture Bride" and "Can't I Go Instead?”.
These two novels not only were shortlisted in the 2018 IBBY honor list, but also reshaped Korean social perceptions of youth literature. The novels were adapted into musical forms and transformed into web-comics. They were also translated into multiple languages, influencing a global audience.
She once stated, "It's not that I chose children's literature, but children's literature chose me." In 2020, she was officially nominated as a distinguished candidate for the prestigious "Hans Christian Andersen Award", the most authoritative international award in children's and young adult literature. This year, she once again lied on the shortlist of candidates for the 2024 "Hans Christian Andersen Award".