Half-assigned dog 007
5-minute waiting group 019
Strange Conversation 034
My Lawyer 047
Ugliness Index 057
Stacked up 071
Hug Me 083
098 Better than being alone
Misconception 117
What Birthday Party 128
Stop it now! 143
Peeling Cherry Shrimp 164
175 on an unfamiliar street
Like Trees 185
Author's Note 197

A friend said.
We are all alone like the trees.
Good friends should be each other's sunshine and wind.
Beings that help each other grow well as independent trees.
That's a friend.

_In the book

2019 Bookstore People's Book of the Year | 2019 Sejong Book Culture Category Selection | 2019 Book Token Selection | 2019 Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education Cheongdo Library Sympathy Book | 2019 Kyobo Education Foundation Recommended Youth Character Book | 2019 Cheongju Book of the Year | 2019 Cheonan Book of the Year | 2019 Pocheon Book of the Year | 2020 Uijeongbu Book of the Year | 2020 Jeonnam Book of the Year | 2020 Gumi Book of the Year | 2020 Ulsan Book of the Year | 2020 Jeju Book of the Year | 2020 Jecheon Book of the Year | 2020 Gyeongnam Reading Festival Selection | 2020 School Library Journal Recommended Book | 2021 Yangcheon-gu Book of the Year | 2021 Yangju Book of the Year | 2022 Asan Book of the Year | 2022 Anyang Book of the Year

- The lives and psychology of teenagers are depicted so vividly that it feels like you can touch them.
_Lee Geum-i (novelist)

- A precious story of growth for a child who longed to belong to 'our' world _Yoon Seong-hee (novelist)

- Listening and empathizing is more powerful than a half-baked solution.
I saw such power in this novel.
_Yoo Young-jin (children's and youth literature critic)

- A work in which young people take initiative and solve their own problems _ Kim Bo-young (novelist)

Dahyun_ A child who wants to belong somewhere
“Lying is difficult.
“It’s harder to live by a lie.”

Friends are the most important thing to Dahyun.
I was lucky to become a member of 'Five Fingers' when I entered middle school.
But there are things you should never tell even your close friends.
She can't tell her "Five Fingers" friends that she likes classical music and pop songs better than idol songs, that she actually likes her freckled face, and that she thinks of her late father every time she walks down the alley in her neighborhood.
Because I never want to be an outcast again.
There is nothing scarier than being called a 'serious fool' and secretly hanging out in a crowd.
Sometimes, when she feels frustrated, Dahyun turns on the blog app.
Only on Cherry Shrimp Blog can you be completely yourself.
Of course, privately.


Metaphor_ A child who doesn't want to belong anywhere
“I actually don’t like people moving around in groups.”

Noh Eun-yu is a bit special.
Even though he doesn't have a particularly close friend, he doesn't seem to mind.
A child who doesn't feel awkward even when alone and can talk calmly about independent films that no one would see.
Among her 'Five Fingers' friends, she is known as the second most hated person in school, but Dahyun doesn't really understand why Eunyu is being hated.
But Dahyun decides to try to dislike metaphors.
Of course, if your close friends dislike a child, you should dislike them too.


On the first day of the new semester, Dahyun was paired with Eunyu and even had to do the same assignment in the same group.
A metaphor for suggesting that the assignment meeting be held at one's home.
Should I break the unspoken rule of "Five Fingers"—never speaking to Eun-yu Noh? How should I tell my friends I went to Eun-yu Noh's house? I don't have the confidence to casually mention it in a group chat, and I don't have the confidence to tell my friends directly.
Dahyun, unable to do anything, firmly decides that she cannot hate Eunyu, but she cannot like him either...
With the meeting between Dahyun and Eunyu, a completely new relationship landscape begins to unfold.


“A friend of mine said,
“We are all alone, like the trees.” _From the text

I'll be myself, you'll be yourself
A forest of healthy relationships formed by children who stand tall like trees

Dahyun, who has been hiding her tastes and thoughts, changes her Cherry Shrimp Blog to public and says, “Yes, I am a serious person.
“What should I do!” The voice shouting still resonates refreshingly in the ‘private’ world where countless ‘me’s’ still reside.
This 'what do you want me to do' becomes a magical spell that empowers both children and adults who are lost in relationships.
The author's wish is that all beings will stand tall, me being myself, you being you, without being swayed by the gaze of others or bound by where they belong.

Author Hwang Young-mi is said to be able to hear children's words well.
He confessed that he often tosses and turns at night after mulling over and replaying the conversations he hears between middle and high school students on city buses, in bookstores, and while walking.
I frequently visit teen community sites, and my thoughtful responses to teenagers' concerns have often become the "best" posts.
This was possible because I went beyond simply showing interest and affection for the children and truly empathized and sympathized with them.
Those feelings piled up one by one and became a novel.


Accepting and loving myself as I am also broadens my understanding of others.
Just as each tree standing upright alone creates a beautiful forest, healthy relationships can be created by each being standing tall and centered.
As Dahyun's heartbreaking story of growth tells us.
This novel will be the first step in your journey to find yourself, like a cherry shrimp, by freely shedding its skin and soaring.


“There have been several instances where my comments on posts about concerns on online communities have become the ‘best’ posts.
This novel began with the intention of leaving a comment.” _Hwang Young-mi