Year of Impossible Goodbyes

You MUST read this book and the two other books by Choi-Echoes of White Giraffe & Gathering of Pearls. All three books are written from Sookan's perspective, as she grows up in the midst of the Japanese occupation, the war and in America, as a foreign college student. Aside from the cultural issues, as well as historic issues, the plot flows very well. The stories are very personal & honest. I really enjoyed these books and I know that when my kids, ages 5 and 9, get a little older, they will also. These are enjoyable and educational stories.

Sookan, a young girl from North Korea, has been living at home with her brother, Aunt, Mom, and brother under the rule of the Japanese. Just when Sookan thought things would be fine, the emperor takes away the workers from her family's sock factory, and even the the Japanese are suddenly forced out, the Russians take over. Her family has no means of income and is left with their best possible decision: to escape to the south. Sookan, her brother, and her mom leave for freedom. Along the way Sookan's mother gets arrested by Russian guards. Now Sookan and her brother must find away to escape to South Korea will she can be free with her father and two other brothers. Will she make it? Fin out by reading. I loved this book! At first I was hesitant at reading it because I was not sure how well I'd like the story, but once I began the book I could not put it down. I became enraptured in the story, hoping with the character that she would make it to South Korea. Applause to Choi for a beautifully written book!

This book is like the bomb!!! seriously!~ I mean at school when the teacher was reading it I was like falling asleep and then the teacher assigned us that we have to read ch.4 and I was like THANK GOD! only 1 chapter, so I came home that night and snuggled into my bed and then I was like oh chapter 4... piece of cake and then I was like reading and reading, and the I accedently read to like what ch. 8 and then we had to eat dinner so I put the book down, and then after dinner usually I go and watch TV but then today was different! I went back into my room and started reading the book again. Seriously! I CAN'T put the book down then all of a sudden I finished the book and then it was like what 8:30 so this book really grabed my attention and I'm thankful that Ms. B gave me the book to read. Now it's like I know the history of Korea and I know what really accually happen in the Korean and World war. This is an amazing book and I hope people my age (...) will read this book too!

I had to read this book for a college Children's Literature class and loved it! My father served in the Korean war but I never knew much about all that happened during this tumultuous time. Sook Nyul Choi does a superb job of transferring the reader back to Pyongyang, North Korea. You feel like you are there watching the chaos hit, as if it was your own family. It is one of the best books that I have ever read and makes me want to read more about Korea and it's people. I would recommend this book to children and adults. Teachers this is a must and a great way to teach Korean War history. The student's will always remember this book!

Taking you back into the time when the Japanese ruled Korea, the book Year of Impossible Goodbyes written by Sook Nyul Choi leads you on to an adventurous story. The author describes events in such a detail that the book seems so realistic that it is confused to be a nonfiction book, when it is fiction. This story takes place in 1945, when the Japanese ruled Korea. The story is set on this one particular family of a ten-year-old girl named Sookan, and the rest of her family members. The situation that this family is in clearly shows the harsh life of the Koreans. Sookan¡¯s father was working secretly for freedom while her brothers and sisters were away, forced to serve the Heavenly Emperor. Her mother was ordered to take care of the sock factory where the ¡°sock girls¡± worked to produce socks for the soldiers while Captain Narita tried to destroy everything of the family. Then finally, the war ended, but the family was faced by another challenge. The Russians, who had been attempting to gain power over the Koreans came and the same life of when the Japanese were there, reoccurred. Not being able to stand the everyday routine of the cruel Russians, the family decided to go down to South Korea, where Americans were. From this point, not knowing what they were about to face, the family risks their life on a journey to the other side of the country. Told in the view of first person, the author describes the events so well that sometimes it makes the reader feel like it is happening around them. Also, the author uses some Korean words written out in English so it helps the reader to be familiar with the words and to feel like they know more about the Korean culture. There are so many conflicts occurring within the story that it is even hard to remember them all. One of the main conflicts is the person verses person between Sookan¡¯s family and captain Narita. Captain Narita tries his best to ruin the family¡¯s life by sending the ¡°sock girls¡± to the soldiers to give ¡°pleasure¡±, taking away the most precious things in the family, cutting down the tree that the family loved, and finally taking part in killing Sookan¡¯s grandfather. Another example of conflict in this book is the person verses herself. Sookan has to fight herself to take care of her brother without her mother while they are trying to go to South Korea. She faces many challenges and thinks of giving up, but she keeps on reminding herself that she is an older sister so she should care for her brother. Person verses society between the people of Korea and their environment is another example of conflicts in the story. Being controlled by the Japanese, people suffer by being taken away from their families and giving up their lives for the people of Japan. Then they are abused by the Russians right after the Japanese leave. All these examples of conflicts add more flavors to the plot of the story. I consider this book as one o