Julia Song and her friend Patrick would love to win a blue ribbon, maybe even two, at the state fair. Theyve always done projects together, and they work well as a team. This time, though, theyre having trouble coming up with just the right plan. Then Julias mother offers a suggestion: They can raise silkworms, as she did when she was a girl in Korea. Patrick thinks its a great idea. Of course there are obstaclesfor example, where will they get mulberry leaves, the only thing silkworms eat?but nothing they cant handle. Julia isnt so sure. The club where kids do their projects is all about traditional American stuff, and raising silkworms just doesnt fit in. Moreover, the author, Ms. Park, seems determined to make Julias life as complicated as possible, no matter how hard Julia tries to talk her out of it. In her first novel with a contemporary setting, Linda Sue Park delivers a funny, lively story that illuminates both the process of writing a novel and the meaning of growing up American.