By Megan Yarusso
For lawyer, debut author, and avid reader Jessica Jiwon Choe (ΦBK, University of Chicago), it’s the books she read in childhood that have stuck with her the most. With her picture book Yuna Choe and The Perfect Bowl of Rice set to hit bookshelves in May of 2026, Choe is taking the jump from sitting in the audience to being the storyteller.
Choe graduated from the University of Chicago in 2021, where she studied psychology and human development, as well as human rights and creative writing. She then went on to attend law school at the University of Michigan and now works as a lawyer in New York.
Even as an undergraduate, Choe knew she wanted to foster her love for writing and pursue authorship. “I’ve always had writing really close to my heart, and I’m also just an avid reader,” Choe said. “Post-grad, I was thinking about what I wanted to do, and I wanted a career that had as much writing as possible.” In addition to her studies, Choe developed her writing in journalistic and academic publications. At the University of Chicago, Choe worked for The Chicago Maroon, and in law school, she became the managing editor of the Michigan Law Review. Outside of work for these publications, Choe has always had her heart set on authoring something more personal: “Even though I do a lot of writing in my job now as a lawyer, I do really want to write creatively in my free time for my own self-edification.”
So in her third year of law school, Choe began drafting a manuscript for what would eventually become Yuna Choe and The Perfect Bowl of Rice. The book tells the story of a young Korean-American girl who strives for perfection, only to discover that mistakes can be their own reward. Inspired by Choe’s own experiences with cooking, the book follows Yuna as she helps her mother in the kitchen, only to accidentally burn a pot of rice when she uses too little water. At first, Yuna is devastated by her mistake, but her parents help her to see the situation from a different perspective. “What Yuna has done is she’s made this thin layer of burnt, crispy rice at the bottom, which is a Korean traditional snack, nurungji,” Choe explained. “So the whole point of the book is to show you that life is not about being perfect; it’s about trying, and mistakes can be really delicious.”
However, Yuna’s story didn’t really take off until Choe reconnected with Celine Kim, a friend from the University of Chicago with aspirations for illustrating picture books. As an author-illustrator duo, Choe and Kim worked together to bring Yuna to life on the page. With A Colorful Collection on board to publish the book, Choe and Kim have set May 5, 2026, as their launch date. Choe explained that May 5 was chosen very intentionally for the book’s release, as not only is May Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, but May 5 is Children’s Day in South Korea.
Reflecting on the inspiration behind Yuna’s story, Choe highlighted how her own experiences as an Asian American influenced the impression she wanted to make on young readers. For one, Choe notes that as a child who loved reading, she rarely saw herself represented in books: “That was also a huge motivation for me to write a Korean American picture book that little kids can have read to them at night, like a beautiful rhyme that is a story about them that makes them feel seen.” Choe further explained that Yuna’s desire to be perfect is based on her own experience with high expectations. “This book is about a Korean American child who bases her worth on being perfect, and she thinks that being perfect is the same as being loved,” Choe elaborated. “I think that’s a very big issue that a lot of Asian Americans have growing up. There’s this model minority idea, and I think I definitely fell for that idea as well.”
Through Yuna, Choe hopes to encourage readers to embrace their mistakes instead of pressuring themselves to be perfect. “It’s not about being perfect; you have to try, and that trying will lead you to whatever success looks like for you,” Choe said. “Once you accept that failure is an option, trying is not hard anymore.”
As Yuna’s first adventure in the kitchen gets ready to hit bookshelves, Choe has already begun to imagine new stories for her young protagonist, ready to apply her newfound experience with the publishing world. When asked what advice Choe would have for other members of ΦBK pursuing their dreams in challenging and creative fields, she encouraged taking advantage of connections made through ΦBK. “I’ve experienced how open this community is and how supportive this community is,” Choe said. “At the end of the day, it’s a community of people who are aligned in the sense that they are very self-motivated.”
Megan Yarusso is a first-year graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign currently enrolled in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa at her undergraduate institution, Augustana College, in May of 2025. Augustana College is home to the Zeta of Illinois chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.