Contemporary Author #1- Jenny Han

 Jenny Han: The Impact of YA Romance on a community.

    Jenny Han is a Korean-American author, screenwriter, executive producer and showrunner. She is best known for her book trilogies titled The Summer I Turned Pretty and To All The Boys I've Loved Before, which later were turned into streaming tv shows and movies with popular streaming platforms. Both of these trilogies ended up being #1 Bestsellers, making her one of few authors to have both of her most popular trilogies become best sellers (4). 

Who Is Jenny Han? 

    Jenny Han is a 46-year-old author best known for her YA romance style of writing. She was born September 3rd, 1980, in Richmond Virginia to Korean-American parents.  She graduated from Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies in 1998 and then proceeded to attend The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for her undergraduate studies (2). 

    Once graduating from there, she went on to get her masters in creative writing at The New School, which is a Fine Arts school based in New York City. During her time at The New School, that is where she wrote her first stand-alone novel titled Shug(2). 

    This story follows Annmarie "Shug" Wilcox, a 12 year old girl going through her first year in Junior High. This book was officially published in 2006 by Simon & Schuster, which would be the first of many books of Jenny Han's that would be published by them (4). 

Author of HOW many bestsellers? 

    Yes, you read that right, Jenny Han is a very successful best selling author! The publishing of Shug opened up doors after graduating with her masters degree. 

    Her first successful trilogy was titled The Summer I Turned Pretty which was released from 2009-2011. This trilogy detailed the summers of 15 year old Isabelle "Belly" Conklin and the love triangle she gets caught up in with two boys she's known her whole life. 

    This series quickly became a #1 best seller according to The New York Times Best Sellers list shortly after the first books release. After the success of other Jenny Han film projects, Amazon Prime picked up the series and created a three season TV series that gained popularity through Tik Tok (7). 

    So, I have to ask, are you team Conrad or team Jeremiah? 

    Her most popular series was titled To All The Boys I've Loved Before which is a three-book trilogy that was released from 2014- 2017. These three novels were instant #1 YA Romance best sellers and were the start of Jenny Han's introduction to film. 

    This trilogy follows the story of Lara Jean Song Covey, a Korean-American girl living in Oregon. Without her knowledge, five letters she wrote to her crushes throughout her life are mailed out, and she must now face her crushes, specifically Peter Kavinsky (4). 

    This book not only explores romance but also family dynamics. This is what makes the book so appealing, we get to see a bit of the life of all the Covey sisters, as Lara Jean is the middle child. It's not only a romance but also a coming-of-age story that gives a glimpse into the teen Korean-American experience. 

This was also the book that allowed for all of Jenny Han's TV and movie success to be possible. 

Film and TV Career

Jenny Han's Tv and film career is attributed to her last book series To All The Boys I've Loved Before. This series was an instant success from the release of the first book and was picked up by Netflix shortly after its release (5). The To All The Boys I've Loved Before movie was released in 2018 and was a massive Netflix success. This lead Han to become more involved in the next two films titled To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You and Always and Forever, Lara Jean as an executive producer (4). 

Due to the praise of the To All The Boys series, Han teamed up with Amazon Prime to create The Summer I Turned Pretty as a three season Tv series. She was also an executive producer on this project as well as a showrunner and writer of the script. This show is very true to the series, other than the changing of race of the main character. Originally, the main character Belly was not specified as Korean-American which she decided to change when creating the TV show adaptation of the series (4). 

    The public support of the first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty allowed for Han to have some creative freedom. Han went back to Netflix to pitch a show she had been working on called XO, Kitty which follows Kitty Song Covey, Lara Jeans little sister, and her experience at K.I.S.S (Korean Independent School of Seoul). This was Jenny Han's first Tv project that was not based on one of her novels, instead was a continuation of To All The Boys but in a different light. This show was first released in 2023 and currently in 2026 has three seasons all available to stream on Netflix (4). 

To All The Boys I've Loved Before: a #1 Best Selling Trilogy

 

    All of this media and film attention of Han's writing wouldn't be possible without the success of To All The Boys I've Loved Before. This was the series that created the following Jenny Han as an author has today. 

    To All The Boys I've Loved Before, as stated before, follows the story of 16 year old Lara Jean Song Covey, who writes love letters or in her case, goodbye letters to release the feelings, of her crushes through her life. She has five letters to five different boys that are mysteriously sent out without her knowledge. When her older sisters ex boyfriend, Josh receives a letter. Lara Jean is forced to fake a relationship with the high school heartthrob and letter boy Peter Kavinsky, In hopes of convincing Josh she is over him, and to keep her sister from finding out (6). 

    This book is full of true and real high school drama. You are constantly trying to figure out what feelings are fake and which ones are becoming real. By the end you are left with the question, which boy will Lara Jean choose? (4)

    The Second Installment of this series To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, continues the story of Lara Jean. After a dramatic scandal between Peter and Lara Jean is recorded, we get to meet another letter boy who is coming to win Lara Jean. His name is John-Ambrose McClaren and after receiving his letter, decides to make an entrance into her life. We are now left with the question, will Lara Jean and Peter stay together? Or will she be whisked away by the romantics of John-Ambrose? (4)

    The third and final instalment of this series is titled Always and Forever, Lara Jean. Lara Jean and Peter are now seniors and are doing well, finally in a relationship and planning on both going to the same college, until Lara Jean doesn't get in. We follow these characters through all the ups and downs of senior year, trips, college visits, and even a wedding. At the end of the story we find out whether Lara Jean and Peter survive, or if they are just a high school romance. (4)

Reviews     

    There are plenty of legitimate reviews on this award-winning trilogy. But the two most notable are glowing reviews from The Guardian and Hannah Charity at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs New York as an academic publishing. The first novel was praised by both critics for its "Ability to suck you into the storyline"(3). The Guardian describes it as a "Beautiful and well written story"(3), and "has this first love vibe to it"(1). While Hannah Charity focuses on race being portrayed in the novel through Lara Jean and how the death of her mother affects her connection to her Korean family. She also talks about how contemporary novels like this "Portray love and desire without shame"(1). Which is a point that Charity enjoyed throughout the novel. While handling issues of race and identity, it can still have a cheesy and light-hearted core for romance lovers while still handling those issues of being a teenager (1).  

Conclusion 

    I am so happy with my choice to cover Jenny Han. She is such a strong and interesting women with a very creative mind, which is something I admire. She seems to be able to balance issues about race and fitting in while missing a part of yourself while also covering universal issues of being young and in love. She does this through her writing and it can reach so many different audiences and will be relatable to all who read her books, no matter what race you may be. She has a unique perspective on love and living as a young adult which is what makes her such an accomplished author. 

    Overall, what is your favorite novel or media and film I covered? Do you prefer one over the other? Let me know your thoughts! 

Works Cited 

(1) Charity, Hannah. “To All The Boys I've Loved Before Book Review: Love Letters In The Teal Hatbox.”

Skidmore College, https://hannahlcharity.domains.skidmore.edu/autumn/to-all-the-boys-ive-loved-before-book-

review-love-letters-in-the-teal-hatbox/.

(2) Grochowski, Sara. “Q & A with Jenny Han.” Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/73432-q-a-with-jenny-han.html. Accessed 15 September 2026.

(3) The Guardian. “To All The Boys 'Ive Loved Before Jenny Han Review.” The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/nov/05/to-all-the-boys-ive-loved-before-jenny-han-review.

(4)Han, Jenny. “Jenny Han Official Website.” Jenny Han | Home, https://www.jennyhan.com/. Accessed 15 September 2026.

(5)“Hollywood Come Calling For Jenny Hans YA Books.” Korean News, https://web.archive.org/web/20170828191104/http://www.koreatimesus.com/hollywood-come-calling-for-jenny-hans-ya-books/.

(6)“Jenny Han.” IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6614229/. Accessed 15 September 2026.

wtvr. “A Great Novel By Best Selling Author Jenny Han.” WTVR, https://www.wtvr.com/2014/04/15/a-great-novel-by-best-selling-author-jenny-han.

(7)Yamato, Jen. “'Summer I Turned Pretty': How author Jenny Han built a YA empire - Los Angeles Times.” LA Times, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2023-07-06/summer-i-turned-pretty-jenny-han-to-all-the-boys-xo-kitty. Accessed 15 September 2026.