Lyla Lee

Lyla Lee is the author of I’ll Be the One and the Mindy Kim series for younger readers. Born in a small town in South Korea, she’s since lived in various cities throughout the United States. Inspired by her English teacher, she started writing her own stories in fourth grade and finished her first novel at the age of fourteen. In I’ll Be The One (Katherine Tegen Books) we meet Skye Shin. She has heard it all: Fat girls shouldn’t dance, or wear bright colors, or call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her. She’ll challenge thousands of other performers in an internationally televised competition looking for the next K-pop star, and she’ll do it better than anyone else. She nails her audition, but what she doesn’t count on are the fat-phobic beauty standards of the Korean pop entertainment industry, and the scrutiny that comes with fame. To become the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star means winning the competition—without losing herself. Kirkus Reviews in a starred review said that “Skye’s strength and talent make her an inspiration to K-pop–loving teens everywhere—including those in real life. […] A fresh perspective on body image and K-pop?”