Books with author Sook Nyul Choi

It is 1945, and courageous ten-year-old Sookan and her family must endure the cruelties of the Japanese military occupying Korea. Police captain Narita does his best to destroy everything of value to the family, but he cannot break their spirit. Sookan's father is with the resistance movement in Manchuria and her older brothers have been sent away to labor camps. Her mother is forced to supervise a sock factory and Sookan herself must wear a uniform and attend a Japanese school.Then the war ends. Out come the colorful Korean silks and bags of white rice. But Communist Russian troops have taken control of North Korea and once again the family is suppressed. Sookan and her family know their only hope for freedom lies in a dangerous escape to Americancontrolled South Korea.Here is the incredible story of one family's love for each other and their determination to risk everything to find freedom.

* “Wonderfully telling scenes evoke the time, the place, and—more subtly—the deep-running emotions that these people, bound by customs and besieged by troubles, were so rarely free to acknowledge.”—Kirkus Reviews, pointer review “Ms. Choi writes of social, political and personal hurts in a context few young Americans today have experienced. Yet she tells of more than dislocation: she tells of Sookan’s personal growth, indeed her triumph.”—New York TimesSookan, the unforgettable heroine of Year of Impossible Goodbyes, is now fifteen years old and a refugee in Pusan, a city in a southern province of Korea. The Korean War is raging, and she once again has been separated from her father and brothers. Anxiously awaiting any news of them, Sookan imagines a time when she can return to a normal life in Seoul. In the meantime, though she often feels sad, alone, and scared, she finds solace in a forbidden friendship and from the mysterious “shouting poet” who offers her and her fellow refugees inspiration each morning.

“It is easy to fall in love with this gentle girl. . . . Readers who share in this emotional journey with Sookan will grow along with her in wisdom.”—School Library Journal “Just as oysters make pearls out of grains of sand, women create something precious from their suffering. Preparing to face life alone, Sookan gathers her strength—her pearls—and resolves to succeed.”—Kirkus ReviewsAs Sookan Bak, the heroine of Year of Impossible Goodbyes and Echoes of the White Giraffe, travels the long distance between Seoul, Korea, and New York City, she is consumed by questions about her future. What will her life in America be like? Will she be able to communicate and fit in? Will she do well in her studies? And has she been selfish in her decision to leave her family and pursue her own dreams? Here is the compelling, often surprising story of Sookan’s first year in a very foreign country—a joyful, overwhelming, and exhilarating time.

It is 1945, and courageous ten-year-old Sookan and her family must endure the cruelties of the Japanese military occupying Korea. Police captain Narita does his best to destroy everything of value to the family, but he cannot break their spirit. Sookan's father is with the resistance movement in Manchuria and her older brothers have been sent away to labor camps. Her mother is forced to supervise a sock factory and Sookan herself must wear a uniform and attend a Japanese school.Then the war ends. Out come the colorful Korean silks and bags of white rice. But Communist Russian troops have taken control of North Korea and once again the family is suppressed. Sookan and her family know their only hope for freedom lies in a dangerous escape to Americancontrolled South Korea.Here is the incredible story of one family's love for each other and their determination to risk everything to find freedom.

There's always so much fuss over baby Kiju that Sunhi suspects her family doesn't have any interest in her anymore. Kiju is a sweet baby, but Sunhi can't help being jealous. Her grandmother understands just how Sunhi feels, and soon she and Sunhi have worked out a way to make Kiju's first birthday a party for everyone--especially Kiju's "best older sister!"

There's always so much fuss over baby Kiju that Sunhi suspects her family doesn't have any interest in her anymore. Kiju is a sweet baby, but Sunhi can't help being jealous. Her grandmother understands just how Sunhi feels, and soon she and Sunhi have worked out a way to make Kiju's first birthday a party for everyone--especially Kiju's "best older sister!"