1.
father and daughter
2.
Club for playing alone
3.
What do you want to know?
4.
In search of Da-jeong
5.
It's not Da-jeong, it's Bok-sil
6.
Why did it turn out like this?
7.
Jo d'Arc Interview
8.
sleepless nights
9.
Is family always one team?
10.
Five questions
11.
Whether it's the fruit shop daughter or the market owner's daughter
12.
It's not easy
13.
The fight is like a festival
14.
The untold story

Author's Note

"Adults who only have to live for today? We have to live for tomorrow too!"
Author Jin Hyeong-min delivers the powerful voice of children in "Here and Now."

Author Jin Hyeong-min, who has received enthusiastic support from readers for his works that show the colorful aspects of children, has published a full-length children's story, "Why Why Why Club," after six years.
This is the story of children in a coastal city who, triggered by frequent forest fires and the construction of coal-fired power plants, realize the severity of the climate crisis and actively take climate action.
The protagonist, a fifth-grade student named Rok-hee, creates a club called "Why Why Why" with her school friends to investigate anything they are curious about. While investigating the disappearance of club member Gi-ju's dog, Da-jeong, she realizes that the choices made by adults who prioritize financial gain are causing environmental pollution.
The children in the work ask sharp questions on behalf of children in reality, who are directly affected by the climate crisis yet are always excluded from discussions on this issue.
“Do you want to live in a world where it’s either too hot to kill you, or too cold to kill you, or too rainy to kill you, or too cold to kill you?” (p. 145).
The work argues that the climate crisis is a violation of the fundamental rights of future generations and that children and young people should no longer suffer.
The author's characteristically sharp critical awareness and affection for the next generation flow beautifully and preciously throughout the work, while painter Lee Yun-hee's refreshing paintings inject a lighthearted atmosphere and fresh energy, effectively conveying the serious theme.


I've been fortunate enough to have close encounters with adults, youth, and children who are fighting the climate crisis.
They were applying the brakes of the high-speed train we were on with all their might.
No more! Stop it! Only by stopping can we all survive! That's the feeling I had when I wrote this book.
_From the author's note

We create the world we live in!
A child who has the courage to protect what is precious

WhyWhyWhy Each of the club kids has something precious they want to protect.
For Ki-ju, who lost his entire home, filled with family memories, to a forest fire, the right to live safely wherever he is and the return of his missing dog are urgent tasks.
Jin-mo, who may be forced to move from the seaside home where she was born and raised due to the construction of a coal-fired power plant, wants to maintain her normal daily life with her favorite friend, while Jin-mo's older sister Jin-kyung wants to live peacefully in the seaside home until she becomes a grandmother.
The children's wish can only be fulfilled by stopping the construction of a coal-fired power plant that threatens the environment of Yonghae City, so the club members, with the help of middle school student Jin-kyung, seek out actions they can each take.
As the WhyWhyWhy club, which began to speak out for its own wishes, gradually turns its gaze toward its neighbors and society, the story expands into a work that reflects on the entire social and global level.
The children appeal to the whole school about the severity of the climate crisis, telling stories such as how a friend's family, who had made a living by catching pollack for generations, could no longer catch pollack due to rising sea temperatures, and how an old neighbor had to cut down all the apple trees he had grown with great care due to abnormal weather.
The passages depicting children as active citizens participating in everyday politics and making their voices heard are a shining virtue of this work, naturally reminding readers of reality.
In fact, writer Jin Hyeong-min has actively supported the activities of the environmental group 'Youth Climate Action', which filed a constitutional petition against the government, claiming that the government's greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 threatened the right to life of young people, and in August 2024, the Constitutional Court finally ruled that part of the Basic Carbon Neutrality Act was unconstitutional.
The work's depiction of future generations, both inside and outside the individual level of "me" and "you," striving to protect the present and tomorrow of "us," gives hope to both children and adult readers.

With friends, our way, strong!
Sparkling moments created by children's sincerity

WhyWhyWhy The last question of the club is this.
“Why do adults decide our future without asking us?” (page 140) Children who can no longer stand by and watch the adults’ irresponsible behavior gather like-minded friends and head to city hall and the court.
It is a 'climate lawsuit' that calls for appropriate measures to address the climate crisis and prevent excessive burdens from being passed on to future generations.
Rok-hee, who was conflicted because her father, who was elected mayor promising to make Yonghae City a better place, seemed to continue making decisions that would ruin Yonghae City, decides to stay with her friends, refuting the common saying that "family is always a team."
On the day of the first trial, the children share joy and courage and encourage each other.


Rockhee really wanted to show her father what the children here looked like.
I hoped that Dad would never forget that children can be so excited and happy even when they go out to fight with adults, and that even at this very moment, children are still growing and becoming stronger.
(Page 194)

No one knows what the outcome of the trial will be or how much of a struggle awaits the children, but the WhyWhyWhy club children are certain of one thing.
The fact is that “we will not give up or give up easily” and “even when bad times come, we will not let go of each other’s hands and move forward together until the end” (“Author’s Note”).
This story, which depicts children who want to change the world in their own way as the masters of their own lives, reminds us of the importance of courage in taking action instead of easily giving up or becoming cynical.
I hope that many readers will listen to the most important voice of today, delivered by author Jin Hyeong-min, who is ‘trusted and read.’