★"Five Stories That Cut Through Loss"
★Winner of the Excellence Prize at the 1st Sowon Youth Literature Award.
★"Summer Contrails" is a short story collection featuring five narratives unfolding amid the sweltering heat of summer. It explores universal inevitable human experiences of death and mourning through sincere emotional depictions and understated prose. Readers can enjoy a rich variety of tales, ranging from realistic everyday stories to science fiction set in near-future societies, delivering a fulfilling reading experience.
★The judges' comment perfectly captures the solid, resonant quality of this work: “It is heartening to witness the author’s skill, which wholeheartedly holds affection and faith toward young people.” We cheer on this writer, who has taken their first bright, pure step into the realm of youth literature.

Lee Hye Ryeong

I love summer stories. I enjoy wandering down alleyways lost in thought, hopping onto random buses, and watching planes at the airport. I weave tales by gathering all the little things I adore.

Awards: 2025 Sowon Youth Literature Award
Recent Works: [Summer Contrails], [The Legendary Trading Cards] … 32 titles in total

1. Summer Contrails——
Musu and Youngwoo, former elementary school classmates, cross paths by chance at an airport. Caught off guard by this unexpected reunion, the pair hide their true feelings and spin lie after lie. What genuine emotions are they concealing from each other?

2. In the Summer Woods, We Met——
Yujin spends her summer break at her grandmother’s house. In a nearby forest, she meets a young girl who reminds her of her late mother—they even share the exact same name. Who could this mysterious child really be?

3. The Road That Leads to Farewell——
Jaehee, Jaewoo’s twin sister, and Haebom, Jaewoo’s girlfriend, both grieve for Jaewoo, who passed away in a traffic accident. The two set off together to find a letter Jaewoo wrote, addressed to his future self one year later.

4. Soyo’s Sea——
Eunseol works on a robot retrieval team and is tasked with collecting Soyo’s broken android, Seona. She helps buy Soyo and Seona time to bid each other farewell, yet stumbles upon a shocking secret: someone has implanted fabricated memories inside Seona…

5. Crescent Moon Forest——
Daehee and Eunwoo were inseparable childhood friends, yet now they feel awkward around one another. Years ago, their fathers went out fishing and met with an accident—only Eunwoo’s father survived. One day as a typhoon bears down, Daehee’s grandfather goes missing. The two boys venture into Crescent Moon Forest to search for him.