This comic is so incredibly relevant and present, I hope to see it on more Banned Book Week displays this year! Taking place during the Fifth Republic in South Korea (1980s), Hyun Sook shares her experiences when she was a a freshman in college through a fictionalized memoir style graphic, written/illustrated in partnership with her cartoonist husband,  Ryan Estrada. I highly recommend checking out their comic style interview featured in rich in color in 2020 about the making of this comic, it was really interesting.

The story follows Hyun Sook as she unwittingly joins a banned book club and is introduced to an entirely new world. She meets activists that introduce her to communist, anti-capitalist, and revolutionary literature all the while learning more about reality of corruption that she can't hide away from. This comic manages to stay witty, lighthearted, and entertaining while also containing scathing specificity of the violence that censorship can lead to. There are scenes that actively show children being tortured and forced to confess under coercion. There are mentions of the brutality women and girls in particular face in prisons. It's a hard fought battle and throughout the comic you learn along with the main character as she is radicalized herself. At the heart of it, there is a hopeful message of resistance against systems that would keep the youth down. I can not recommend highly enough. If you ever wanted to know what South Korean schools were banning kids in the 80s from reading, there's a great list in these pages!