John Cho, TROUBLEMAKER

Totally Booked with Zibby

Zibby Owens

Connection, Inspiration, Moms, Entertainment, Arts, Reading, Books, Parenting, Literary

4.4 • 602 Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2022

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"The greatest thing about having written a book is knowing that you have written one. It has emboldened me in many parts of my life in thinking, 'Well, if I can do this, maybe I can do something else.'" Actor John Cho joins Zibby to discuss his debut middle-grade novel, Troublemaker, which was inspired by his own life. John shares how his memories of the Rodney King Riots feel resonant today, the universal emotions of growing up and trying to find ways to feel like an adult when you're still a child, and what his anxiety has looked like following the uptick in anti-Asian violence over the past few years. On a lighter note, John tells Zibby what he hopes younger readers will take away from this story and what he's looking to do with it next.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Vivi Owens, and you're listening to the award-winning podcast. Moms don't have time to read books.
0:07.5	And speaking of books, I have two of my own books coming out this spring and summer.
0:12.7	Princess Charming is a picture book, which debuts on April 19th. And Bookends, a memoir of love, loss, and literature.
0:20.5	Comes out on July 1st, and it is truly a labor of love.
0:24.0	I hope you'll pre-order, order, and join me on tour as I go across the country.
0:28.5	You can find out more at Zibbyowens.com or bookendsmemoir.com.
0:34.1	And you can follow me on Instagram at Zibby Owens because I always post about everything.
0:38.9	Enjoy the show.
0:41.2	John Cho is the author of Troublemaker.
0:44.6	He is most known as Harold from Harold and Kumar.
0:48.3	Hikara Sulu from J.J. Abrams Star Trek or as the star of the highly anticipated
0:53.6	live action Netflix series Cowboy Bebop,
0:56.3	based on the worldwide cult anime phenomenon, news of which, quote, broke the internet, to quote,
1:02.1	Vanity Fair. John is also a former seventh-grade English teacher who grew up as a Korean immigrant
1:07.1	kid in Texas and East L.A., among many other places. He is also now a proud father
1:11.9	with his Japanese American wife, Carrie, of two beautiful children, a nine-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old
1:17.0	boy who both love to read. Welcome, John. Thank you so much for coming on moms. Don't have time
1:21.6	to read books to discuss Troublemaker. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Oh, it's my pleasure.
1:44.2	Would you mind describing your book a little bit for people who aren't familiar with it? I'm sorry to put you through this. I'm sure you're done. I can try to sum it up for you, but you give it a go. The book follows a 12-year-old Jordan Park, who is a bit of a troublemaker kid. He comes home suspended from school. And when he comes home, his parents are home unexpectedly because it's April 29, 1992,
1:51.0	the day that the Rodney King verdict has been read.
1:54.2	They're in a discussion about what they should do about their store in South Central L.A.
1:59.0	The dad decides to go board it up in case there's
	...

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