Amazon’s book editors named Min Jin Lee’s American Hagwon their No. 1 book of 2026 on Thursday. The author of Pachinko follows a Korean family through an economic crisis and two moves abroad, asking how much parents can give up in the belief that school will secure their children’s future. Lee will discuss the novel in a free Harvard Radcliffe Institute event on November 19 that readers can watch online.
The family at the center of American Hagwon
John and Helen Koh are raising three children in South Korea when a betrayal and the Asian financial crisis of 1997 upset the life they’ve built. They leave Seoul for Sydney and eventually settle in Southern California. There, the parents find that their education and experience carry less weight, even as they count on education to give their children a foothold. Cardinal published the novel on September 29.
A hagwon is a private academy where students can take extra classes, often to prepare for exams. The title brings that idea of schooling as a route to opportunity into the Kohs’ American life. The book is the third in Lee’s series “The Koreans,” after Free Food for Millionaires (2007) and Pachinko (2017). The three books follow different families and settings. American Hagwon begins with the Kohs, so readers can start there.
How the list changed since June
Tayari Jones’s Kin led Amazon’s midyear picks and came in fourth on the year-end list. The novel begins with two girls who grow up as neighbors in Louisiana in the 1950s. Jones’s publisher describes their friendship across lives that go in different directions. Jones discussed the novel with Ann Patchett at this summer’s National Book Festival.
Another trilogy on the list
Colson Whitehead’s Cool Machine placed tenth. It closes his Harlem Trilogy, which starts with Harlem Shuffle and continues with Crook Manifesto. If you want to follow Ray Carney from the start, Harlem Shuffle introduces him as a furniture salesman in 1960s Harlem. Cool Machine returns to his world as the 1980s get underway.
How to watch Min Jin Lee’s November 19 talk
Lee worked on American Hagwon as a Radcliffe fellow in 2018 and 2019. She returns to talk about the book with arts journalist Jared Bowen on Thursday, November 19, at 4 p.m. Eastern and 1 p.m. Pacific. Harvard says registration to attend in person has closed. Use the online registration on the event page for the free Zoom webinar, which will have live captions.
