Finding Junie Kim

At home, Junie considers how to make up with Patrice and her friends when Patrice and Amy come to see her. She is reluctant to speak about it but admits that she has depression. Amy and Patrice know someone suffering from depression and suicidal ideation; they are supportive of Junie.

Junie and Patrice both apologize. Her friends encourage her to talk about her feelings more, and Junie realizes she has shut out her friends for a long time. She thinks of chama and considers the impact of this concept on her mental health.

Junie returns to school, her mother driving her again. Justin warns Junie that he will tell their mother about Tobias bullying her if he hurts her again.

At school, she notes the graffiti is gone. She uses the new smartphone to participate with her friends in the chat to combat racism. They have a plan to create videos about the lives of students of color that illustrate the reality of racism.

After school, the friends meet at Patrice’s house, where she proposes a school-wide event where they will show the videos and educate about major issues like racism, sexism, and homophobia. Struggling, Junie describes a need for messaging that encourages people to stand up and speak out against racism.

She reflects on the positive changes in her life.

Junie attends therapy with Rachel and describes recent events. She describes what they talk about during each session to her mother as well. She goes to her grandparents’ house, where her grandmother prepares more Korean food before rushing off to work again.

Junie asks if she can interview Grandpa for the oral history project. He admits that he cannot tell the story of Gunwoo and Sunjin again but offers to describe how he met her grandmother and moved to the US.

They eat, and Junie sets up a video recorder. She begins the interview by verifying that his was an arranged marriage. He reveals that he had met her through a friend and decided that he loved her before she really knew who he was. He asked his parents to hire a matchmaker and approach her parents with a marriage offer.

Grandpa describes the process they went through and explains that Grandma only accepted his offer when he agreed to move to the US during one of their scheduled meetings.

Junie learns her grandmother hoped to become a mechanical engineer and work on spaceships. She gave up on this dream because of the racism she experienced at school and in the workplace. He makes Junie promise to record her story.

Junie gets Grandpa barley tea—hot boricha—as he describes moving to New York from Atlanta to escape discrimination. He describes being denied motel rooms on the journey. As foreigners who spoke English with an accent, people confused them as Chinese and Japanese. Most people had not even heard of Koreans in America. They showed hatred for all Asians.

Junie is angry but unsurprised, expecting this of Americans. Grandpa says life was worse in Korea, which was ruled by a brutal dictator and martial law at this time. He points out the many blessings and opportunities that America offers, noting that for every racist, he met several kind people.

Junie exclaims that it is still hard for her as well, and Grandpa says Black people suffer more, with people killing them for their race. He describes Koreans in Atlanta opening a Korean-only daycare just for his son, Paul. Other Koreans in the community did not want a Korean boy to attend school at an all-Black daycare. Paul attended the all-Black daycare and loved it.

Junie is upset and sees the need to speak out. She is still insecure. Grandpa describes the different types of activism her parents participate in and advises her to find a method of speaking out that feels natural to her.

At school, her friends work on The Diversity Project and start a club called Diverse Voices. Junie invites Esther to participate in the club. Esther shows interest when Junie describes the Korean snacks she plans to bring to the meetings but ultimately rejects Junie’s offer.

Junie asks her grandmother if she can interview her for the oral history project, but she says no, advising Junie that Grandpa is better at that type of thing. Junie begs for Grandma’s War story. Grandma agrees but is not yet ready to speak.

Later, Lila and Marisol bring several flyers for their club that have been graffitied with hate speech. The faculty sponsor takes the flyers to the principal, who reassures them that he will take legal action. He also hires a Diversity Trainer to speak to the school at a school assembly. The girls gain permission to show their videos and speak during this event.

Junie agrees but is nervous about her role in the project. She begins to feel more insecure and hears what she calls her depression voice overwhelming her with negativity. She uses her therapy techniques to help.

The girls discuss the crimes and learn that the police think people from the community committed the first crime in the gym while a student committed the later crimes. Junie thinks she recognizes the handwriting on the flyers but is unsure and does not speak up. She suspects Tobias.

At home, Junie learns that Grandpa is seeing a doctor and becomes anxious.

Junie is woken the next night when her parents receive a phone call that Grandpa was rushed to the hospital. He had a major stroke.

Junie and her family visit Grandpa in the hospital. The right side of his face is unable to move naturally, and he can no longer speak English. Grandma translates for Junie and Justin. Grandpa is excited when Junie promises to learn Korean to understand him again.

Junie visits her grandfather at the hospital regularly and works on her video for Diverse Voices as well as her oral history project in her spare time.

One evening, Junie offers to sit with Grandpa alone as he sleeps so the rest of the family can eat dinner in the cafeteria. He wakes and struggles to speak with Junie. He desperately asks her to take care of her grandmother. She agrees, and he calms down and sleeps once more, leaving Junie uneasy.

That evening, Grandpa passes away.

Junie begins to spiral once again after her grandfather’s death, describing how the depression voice overwhelms her.

She visits Rachel in therapy. She sits and draws while Rachel reassures her. She has not spoken since Grandpa’s funeral days earlier. Junie draws an incredible portrait of Grandpa that she gives to her father.

Late one night, she overhears her mother crying, worried that Grandma will die of sadness. Her grandmother refuses to leave the house where she lived for so long with Grandpa, surrounded by memories that depress her.

Junie finally cries. Her parents hear and comfort her. Junie asks to stay with Grandma, sure this is what Grandpa would want.

Junie stays with her grandmother. She sees her grandmother is sad, has little energy, and doesn’t eat.

Junie hears the voice of her Grandpa and knows what to do. She edits a video of Grandpa describing all the ways he and Grandma showed their love for one another, which Junie recorded while she interviewed him for her oral history project. She shows the video to Grandma as she eats dinner with Junie and her mom. Smiling and crying, Grandma thanks Junie and begins to eat.

Junie tells her grandmother that she promised Grandpa that she would record Grandma’s war story. Grandma agrees.

She begins the recording by stating her American name and her Korean name, noting that all Korean women keep their maiden names. Junie likes this and decides she will always be Junie Kim.