Jessica Jung To Debut Her First Novel That Will Also Be Made Into A Hollywood Movie

Jessica Jung is making her official debut as an author with her first book – a young-adult novel about a Korean-American teenager named Rachel Kim, who’s in training to become the next major K-Pop star. The book is scheduled to release sometime in 2020.

Jessica revealed that the novel, titled “Shine”, will tell a “big, fun, escapist story that also examines the behind-the-scenes of K-Pop.”

With Shine, I wanted to tell a big, fun, escapist story that also examines in-depth, behind- the-scenes aspects of the K-pop world.

My goal was to tell a transparent, candid story — in a way that sometimes fiction does best.

— Jessica Jung

The book was picked up by SimonPulse, a publication company. They praised Jessica and her talent to tell a story that teens can relate to about feeling like “a fish out of water.”

This series embodies everything I love about YA — it’s romantic and juicy, timely, and true, and will speak to anyone who has ever felt like a fish out of water.

I can’t wait for all readers, but especially Asian-American teens, to see themselves in Jessica’s creation, Rachel Kim.

— Jennifer Ung, Senior editor at Simon Pulse

Not only is the book ready to hit the shelves very soon in 11 foreign countries, it’s already in deal for a sequel! The sequel is slated to be released in 2021.

And the story continues as Jessica’s “Shine” was picked up by Glasstown Entertainment and is currently developing the book into a Hollywood movie! Jessica will be working with Matt Kaplan of ACE Entertainment, the team behind Netflix’s hit movie series “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before”, another YA romance novel written by Korean-American author, Jenny Han.

With Jessica’s novel already landing deals after deals even before it’s release, Jessica can add “successful author” under her belt of numerous titles! Congratulations, Jessica!