This is the story of a 10 year old girl names Sookan, living in North Korea during World War II when it was occupied by the Japanese. Her family ran a sock factory. When the war ends, the family thinks that they are free until they hear that the Russians are threatening to take over. In order to escape, her, her mother and her younger brother, Inchun take a journey to South Korea. Along the way they get separated from their mother. After a few terrible weeks, they make it to the South.
I really did not enjoy this book as much as the other but I feel like it may have been because I read that one first. I felt like I was really able to get to know each of the characters and feel the emotions that each of them went through. Sookan was so strong throughout the journey and there were some parts that were very hard for me to read. The fact that this book consisted of many real parts of the author's life only further created that emotional attachment. It was hard to believe that two young kids could be so mature and have to go through so much all by themselves.
I think that this book would be good to teach along with So Far From the Bamboo Grove because it has a different viewpoint of the war. It would be great to let kids see two sides of an issue. This could help them to understand that not everything that happens in war is black and white. Although we feel like we are hurting the bad guys for a legitimate reason, those people being hurt have real emotions and lives just like us. I think that this would be hard to do with kids under 5th grade, but it definitely needs to be addressed in upper elementary.
I really did not enjoy this book as much as the other but I feel like it may have been because I read that one first. I felt like I was really able to get to know each of the characters and feel the emotions that each of them went through. Sookan was so strong throughout the journey and there were some parts that were very hard for me to read. The fact that this book consisted of many real parts of the author's life only further created that emotional attachment. It was hard to believe that two young kids could be so mature and have to go through so much all by themselves.
I think that this book would be good to teach along with So Far From the Bamboo Grove because it has a different viewpoint of the war. It would be great to let kids see two sides of an issue. This could help them to understand that not everything that happens in war is black and white. Although we feel like we are hurting the bad guys for a legitimate reason, those people being hurt have real emotions and lives just like us. I think that this would be hard to do with kids under 5th grade, but it definitely needs to be addressed in upper elementary.
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