When My Name Was Keoko

When My Name Was Keoko
Author: Linda Sue Park
Publisher: Univ. of Queensland Press
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2013-04
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0702251267

A heartwarming tale of courage, resilience and hope from master storyteller and winner of the prestigious Newbery Medal, Linda Sue Park. When her name was Keoko, Japan owned Korea, and Japanese soldiers ordered people around, telling them what they could do or say, even what sort of flowers they could grow. When her name was Keoko, World War II came to Korea, and her friends and relatives had to work and fight for Japan. When her name was Keoko, she never forgot her name was actually Kim Sun-hee. And no matter what she was called, she was Korean. Not Japanese. Inspired by true-life events, this amazing story reveals what happens when your culture, country and identity are threatened.

When My Name Was Keoko

When My Name Was Keoko
Author: Linda Sue Park
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2002-03-18
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0547394098

"This powerful and riveting tale of one close-knit, proud Korean family movingly addresses life-and-death issues of courage and collaboration, injustice, and death-defying determination in the face of totalitarian oppression." (Kirkus starred review) Sun-hee and her older brother, Tae-yul, live in Korea with their parents. Because Korea is under Japanese occupation, the children study Japanese and speak it at school. Their own language, their flag, the folktales Uncle tells them—even their names—are all part of the Korean culture that is now forbidden. When World War II comes to Korea, Sun-hee is surprised that the Japanese expect their Korean subjects to fight on their side. But the greatest shock of all comes when Tae-yul enlists in the Japanese army in an attempt to protect Uncle, who is suspected of aiding the Korean resistance. Sun-hee stays behind, entrusted with the life-and-death secrets of a family at war. This moving historical novel is from Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park, whose beloved middle grade books include A Single Shard and A Long Walk to Water.

Seesaw Girl

Seesaw Girl
Author: Linda Sue Park
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 90
Release: 1999
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0395915147

Impatient with the constraints put on her as an aristocratic girl living in Korea during the seventeenth century, twelve-year-old Jade Blossom determines to see beyond her small world.

A Single Shard

A Single Shard
Author: Linda Sue Park
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2001-04-23
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 054735004X

The Newbery Medal-winning tale of an orphan boy whose dream of becoming a master potter leads to unforeseen adventure in ancient Korea. Tree-ear is an orphan boy in a 12th-century Korean village renowned for its ceramics. When he accidentally breaks a delicate piece of pottery, he volunteers to work to pay for the damage. Putting aside his own dreams, Tree-ear resolves to serve the master potter by embarking on a difficult and dangerous journey, little knowing that it will change his life forever. "Despite the odds against him, Tree-ear becomes courageous, brave and selfless, a hero as enduring as the porcelain Park so lovingly describes." (New York Times) “Intrigues, danger, and a strong focus on doing what is right turn a simple story into a compelling read. A timeless jewel.” (Kirkus starred review) *A broken piece of pottery sets events in motion as an orphan struggles to pay off his debt to a master potter. This finely crafted novel brings 12th-century Korea and these indelible characters to life." (School Library Journal starred review) "Tree-ear's determination and bravery in pursuing his dream of becoming a potter takes readers on a literary journey that demonstrates how courage, honor and perseverance can overcome great odds and bring great happiness. Park effectively conveys 12th century Korea in this masterful piece of historical fiction." (Kathleen Odean, chair of the Newbery Award Selection Committee)

So Far from the Bamboo Grove

So Far from the Bamboo Grove
Author: Yoko Kawashima Watkins
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2014-06-24
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 006234711X

In the final days of World War II, Koreans were determined to take back control of their country from the Japanese and end the suffering caused by the Japanese occupation. As an eleven-year-old girl living with her Japanese family in northern Korea, Yoko is suddenly fleeing for her life with her mother and older sister, Ko, trying to escape to Japan, a country Yoko hardly knows. Their journey is terrifying—and remarkable. It's a true story of courage and survival that highlights the plight of individual people in wartime. In the midst of suffering, acts of kindness, as exemplified by a family of Koreans who risk their own lives to help Yoko's brother, are inspiring reminders of the strength and resilience of the human spirit.

The Kite Fighters

The Kite Fighters
Author: Linda Sue Park
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 149
Release: 2010-06-07
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0547346085

A tale of two brothers in fifteenth-century Korea from theNewbery Medal winner and #1 New York Times–bestselling author of A Long Walk to Water. In this riveting novel, two brothers discover a shared passion for kites. Kee-sup can craft a kite unequaled in strength and beauty, but his younger brother, Young-sup, can fly a kite as if he controlled the wind itself. It’s like the kite is part of him—the part that wants to fly. Their combined skills attract the notice of Korea’s young king, who chooses Young-sup to fly the royal kite in the New Year kite-flying competition—an honor that is also an awesome responsibility. Although tradition decrees, and the boys’ father insists, that the older brother represent the family, both brothers know that this time the family’s honor is best left in Young-sup’s hands. But how do you stand up to the way things have always been? This touching and suspenseful historical novel from the author of A Single Shard, filled with the authentic detail and flavor of traditional Korean kite fighting, brings a remarkable setting vividly to life. “The final contest . . . is riveting. Though the story is set in medieval times, the brothers have many of the same issues facing siblings today.” —School Library Journal (starred review) “Readers will enjoy watching these engaging characters find ways of overcoming webs of social and cultural constraints to achieve a common goal, and the author expresses the pleasures of creating and flying kites—‘A few sticks, a little paper, some string. And the wind. Kite magic’—with contagious enthusiasm.” —Kirkus Reviews

The Calligrapher

The Calligrapher
Author: Edward Docx
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2003
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780618343973

This fresh, original, altogether winning first novel is centered on a young London calligrapher named Jasper--an engaging, intelligent serial seducer and a breaker of hearts.

Archer's Quest

Archer's Quest
Author: Linda Sue Park
Publisher: Yearling Books
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2008
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0440422043

Twelve-year-old Kevin Kim helps Chu-mong, a legendary king of ancient Korea, return to his own time.

A Long Walk to Water

A Long Walk to Water
Author: Linda Sue Park
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2010
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0547251270

When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, 11-year-old Salva becomes separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life of Salva Dut, who, after emigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water wells in Sudan. By a Newbery Medal-winning author.

Grayson

Grayson
Author: Lynne Cox
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2008
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780156034678

The author describes how, while training for a long-distance swim off the coast of California, she encountered a baby gray whale that had become separated from its mother and had been following her instead, and relates her efforts to find the baby's mother.