- Overview
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『 Detective Maeng’s Counseling Center 』is a novel about the activities of Detective Maeng, a 14-year old detective with outstanding reasoning power, remarkable power of observation, and a strong sense of duty.
- Book Intro
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『 Detective Maeng’s Counseling Center 』follows the activities of Detective Maeng Seungji is the only detective in the little seaside village of Sani-gun. The vibrant, delightful characters, the unexpected cases that unfold, and the humorous sentences make the book difficult to put down. The book leaves a savory aftertaste, like drinking iced coffee.
Seungji is in her first year of middle school, and her dream is to become a famous detective and leave her stifling family and village as soon as possible. Her family consists of her eight-year-old brother Seunghyeon, her sister Seung-ok who attends high school in another city, a mom who’s always going around saying what Seungji doesn’t want to hear, and a dad who left home in search of his true self. Then there’s her grandmother, who is the only one who understands how Seungji feels. When Seungji says she’s lonely, her grandmother comforts her and gives her coffee, which her mom would never give her because it’s bad for the brain.
As Seungji, the detective, solves different cases—the case of Yunmi’s lost cell phones, the mystery surrounding Yeong-eun and her mom, her friend Inhye’s request to find her missing self, and the case of Yongwu’s secret folder, with unexpected twists and turns—she comes to many crossroads. What serves as the key to the cases is the detective’s power of empathy that enables her to sense someone’s sadness, and her determination to be fair to everyone.
『 Detective Maeng’s Counseling Center 』is not about complicated cases that are difficult to solve—it’s about the characters, full of vitality, that make their way straight into the reader’s heart. The detective’s journal, full of delightful wit, reveals the loneliness everyone experiences as a part of growing process. As readers close the last page of the book, they will be able to picture a beautiful scene of people leaning on each other, helping each other along.
- About the Author
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Lee Sun-ju
Lee Sun-ju began her literary career with her reception of the 5th Munhakdongne Youth Literature Award with her novel, 『The Kids Outside the Window』. She is the author of 『Just Betty』; 『Shout, Run, and Write! 』 and the 『Let’s Eat, Taedong series』.
- Selection
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"Selected by the City of Wonju for the “One City, One Book” reading program "