The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story

Summary of Book

Dayeon wants to be a haenyeo just like Grandma. The haenyeo dive off the coast of Jeju Island to pluck treasures from the sea--generations of Korean women have done so for centuries. To Dayeon, the haenyeo are as strong and graceful as mermaids. To give her strength, Dayeon eats Grandma's abalone porridge. She practices holding her breath while they do the dishes. And when Grandma suits up for her next dive, Dayeon grabs her suit, flippers, and goggles. A scary memory of the sea keeps Dayeon clinging to the shore, but with Grandma's guidance, Dayeon comes to appreciate the ocean's many gifts.

Author Biography

Tina Cho is the author of Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans (Little Bee Books 2018), Korean Celebrations (Tuttle Publishing 2019), My Breakfast with Jesus (Harvest House June 2020), and The Ocean Calls: A Mermaid Haenyeo Story (Kokila August 2020), and The Girl's Guide to Manners published by Rose Kidz. Tina writes for the educational and children's markets. She lives in South Korea with her husband and two children while teaching at an international school.

Illustrator Biography

Jess X. Snow (b. 1992) is a non-binary film director, artist, pushcart-nominated poet, children’s book author and community arts educator who creates speculative, queer asian immigrant stories that transcend borders, binaries and time. From Calgary, Canada, by the way of Jiangxi, China, they currently live on the unceded lands of the Lenni Lenape / Brooklyn, NY. Through narrative film, large-scale murals, virtual and augmented reality, and community art education, they are working toward a future where migrant and BIPOC folks may witness themselves heroic on the big screen and city walls & discover in their own bodies; a sanctuary for healing and collective liberation.

They are currently the Artist In Residence at the NYU A/P/A Institute. They hold a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and is currently a MFA thesis student at NYU Grad Film as an Ang Lee Scholar.

They bring their background in social movement art, poetry and trauma-informed healing into their film work which has been supported by the Tribeca Film Institute, BAFTA, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific Center, The National Film Board of Canada. Their shorts have screened in over 30 film festivals internationally. Their narrative short, Little Sky screened at Frameline45, Outfest 2021, and will be distributed through HBO Max. They are currently in development for their first narrative feature, supported by Canada Council For The Arts.

They are the author and illustrator of We Always Had Wings, (Make Me a World / Randomhouse) forthcoming in Fall 2022. They also illustrated The Ocean Calls, (Kokila / Penguin Young Readers) a 2020 Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book and a Booklist Editor’s Choice Book, which is currently in production as an animated film through 9 Story Media Group.

Their artwork has been featured in international protests, billboards, bus shelters, broadway theaters, and museums and covered by PBS Newshour, The LA Times, The NY Times Magazine, and the SF Chronicle. Their murals, which center Asian/Pacific, Black, Indigenous femmes and queer & trans people of color, often created in collaboration with those communities, can be found at New York's Chinatown, Atlanta's Buford Highway, the Ford Foundation for Social Justice, and on city walls across the country.