“You came to the right place.
“You’ve come to the right place!”
A story of youth standing together in solidarity against authority and violence in 2021.

Two students became frustrated when they couldn't hear the teacher's voice during an online class.
When he tried to express 'just a little (please raise your voice)' with his hands, he was criticized by his friends who mistook it for 'clamp hands'.
I tried asking my homeroom teacher for help, but all I got was a soulless apology and a tired soul.
After much thought, they seek out Mu-kyung, the physical education teacher who seemed trustworthy, and Mu-kyung discovers memories of her own youth in the two students.

『The Tail and the Wave』 is structured to go back and forth between the past and present, with parts 1-3 covering Mu-gyeong's teenage years and the stories of his students who come to him for help after he becomes a physical education teacher.
It vividly depicts the tenacious cycle of verbal and physical violence that transcends time that occurs to youth.

As a solution to break this vicious cycle, the author suggests ‘solidarity.’
Moo-kyung, Ye-chan, Hyeon-jeong, and Seo-yeon, who have been hurt by those who should be in healthy and happy relationships, such as teachers, friends, and the opposite sex, write down the things they and their friends have experienced on ribbons and secretly hang them on the lanterns displayed at the lantern festival.
Just when their plan is about to be discovered, teacher Choi Ara's wit saves the day.
The ribbons that were revealed to the visitors of the lantern festival spread out into the world.
Finally, school alumni create a wave of public opinion by opening an internet cafe called 'I'll Protect You', and the perpetrators are met with public criticism.
This clearly demonstrates that while an individual's voice may be small, when it is raised in solidarity with friends, adults, and the community, it can resonate with the world, be greatly amplified, and exert a powerful force.

The three-dimensional relationships between colorful characters
Realistic, and therefore more urgent, hopes

As in reality, in novels, conflicts arise when two personalities clash, and the conflicts are resolved when one personality acknowledges the other and they infiltrate each other.
The reader empathizes with one of the various characters who are at the center of the conflict, making the novel his own narrative, and expands his own world in the process of resolving it.

This work cleverly utilizes the attributes of such characters and the significance of their colorful conflicts.
Mu-kyung, a righteous female student who dreams of becoming a soccer player; Ye-chan, a sensitive male student; Hyeon-jeong, who is both quirky and affectionate; and Seo-yeon, who is known as a show-off, but is actually hiding her wounds inside.
These young people, each with their own unique wounds, share each other's pain and accept each other.

Their exchanges do not stop at personal healing.
He begins to point out other people who should be condemned, such as Jeon Geun-se, who abused his authority as a sports coach, and Min Chan-woo, a teacher who pretended to help students but had impure intentions.
The youth group's path takes them to another level with the addition of teachers like Choi Ara, who never backs down from what she believes is right.
The colorful protagonists and antagonists, and the realistic conflicts and crises they face, vividly evoke the reality we face.
The support that readers will receive for the wounded youth will ultimately become a stepping stone for them to grow.

I wrote this hoping that you will develop the strength to stand up on your own.
Kang Seok-hee's first full-length novel

There is no so-called cider-like ending in 『The Tail and the Wave』.
We all know that in reality, it is difficult for the perpetrator to receive full compensation from the victim.
The soccer coach and teacher who molested a student moved to another school without even offering a decent apology and continue to teach the students, and the victimized student is left frustrated and unable to overcome the gaze of those around him. This is also shown as a stark reality in "The Tail and the Wave."

However, our protagonists find courage and grow even in dead ends.
By calmly showing that small but courageous actions like reporting one's victimization through a ribbon or online community can bring about big changes, the author teaches young readers how to fight wisely rather than being disappointed by the immediate results, no matter how bleak the situation may be.
Especially for young readers who are still unable to gauge their own inherent strength, it will give them a warm determination to think, "I can be brave too," or "I should listen to the stories of other friends."

"The Tail and the Waves" is the first winner of the Excellence Award for Coming-of-Age Novels established by Changbi Education.
Author Kang Seok-hee, who received the strong support of the reader review panel and was praised for demonstrating the "values ​​of growth and solidarity," captured the knots of growth engraved in the time it takes for a teenager to grow into an adult in her first full-length novel.