Description: When Eunji wakes up in the morning, her head hurts, her stomach hurts, and she thinks she might have a fever. But in truth, she's just pretending to be sick so she won't have to go to school. The reason is her seatmate, Minjun. Minjun picks on Eunji over every little thing and puts her down. He draws a line down the middle of their desk and tells her not to cross it, tattles to the teacher that she counts on her fingers during math class (which she hates), and criticizes her for not finishing her school lunch. Then one day, Minjun breaks Eunji's favorite pencil. Furious, Eunji throws an eraser at him, and it hits him right in the head. When Minjun glares at her, Eunji gets scared and runs straight home. Afraid that Minjun might hit her back, she doesn't want to go to school at all. Forced to go to school anyway, Eunji spots Minjun lingering nervously in front of the school gate. That's when Minjun apologizes and hands her a small gift. This honest, endearing story feels like it could be someone's real-life experience, making it easy for readers to relate to. It helps children like Eunji, who struggle because of a difficult seatmate or friend, and children like Minjun, who want to be close to a friend but don't know how, understand each other's feelings. The illustrations, which humorously capture Eunji's inner emotions, are especially memorable. Once Eunji finally opens her heart, Minjun is no longer seen as a monster, but as a real, flesh-and-blood friend her own age. Author: Miho Takeda Recent works include Please Change My Seatmate! and The Goblin Under the Desk, among 56 titles in total. About the author: Born in Tokyo in 1959, she studied oil painting at the College of Art of Nihon University before leaving to work various part-time jobs and eventually becoming an independent illustrator. In 1987, her debut work Tomorrow Is a Picnic won the Crayon House Picture Book Grand Prize for Excellence. She also received the Picture Book Japan Award for The Strange House Is Full of Excitement and the Japan Picture Book Award Readers' Choice for The Goblin Under the Desk. Her other works include the Super Mask Is Strong series and the Whispering Forest's Ganko-chan series. Books she has illustrated include the Datkun Cape: Word Chain Transformation series, Thank You for the Perfect Score, Masuda-kun in the Next Seat, Little Momo, and Classroom. Translator: Ko Hyang-ok Recent works include translations among 219 titles in total. About the translator: She studied Japanese literature at Dongduk Women's University and in graduate school, and studied Japanese language and culture at Nagoya University in Japan. She currently studies children's literature with the Korea-Japan Children's Literature Research Society and works as a translator. Her translated works include The Psychology of Picture Books, Orphan of the Universe, The Day I First Stole a Bicycle, Rhythm, Goldfish, Graduation, Harmony Brothers, The Convenience Store That Sells Memories, Foul Play, Teacher, My Sweet Daddy, Our Waldorf Kindergarten, Hey, You Fool, and The Brothers of Domura Diner.