Year of Impossible Goodbyes [Paperback]

Sook Nyul Choi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1993 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1945, 10-year-old Sookan's homeland of North Korea is occupied by the Japanese. Left behind while her resistance-fighter father hides in Manchuria and her older brothers toil in Japanese labor camps, Sookan and her remaining family members run a sock factory for the war effort, bolstered only by the dream that the fighting will soon cease. Sookan watches her people--forced to renounce their native ways--become increasingly angry and humiliated. When war's end brings only a new type of domination--from the Russian communists--Sookan and her younger brother must make a harrowing escape across the 38th parallel after their mother has been detained at a Russian checkpoint. Drawn partly from Choi's own experiences, her debut novel is a sensitive and honest portrayal of amazing courage. In clear, graceful prose, she describes a sad period of history that is astonishing in its horror and heart-wrenching in its truth. Readers cannot fail to be uplifted by this account of the triumph of the human spirit in an unjust world. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9-- Ten-year-old Sookan tells of her Korean family's experiences during the Japanese occupation as World War II ends. The Japanese commit cruel, fear-provoking acts against this proud, hopeful family and against the young girls who worked in a sweatshop making socks for the Japanese army. Relief, hope, and anticipation of the return of male family members after the Japanese defeat is short lived as the Russians occupy the country, bringing their language, their customs, and communism to the village. Equally as insensitive to the pride and possessions of the Koreans, they are as bad as the Japanese. Plans are made for Sookan, her mother, and younger brother to escape to South Korea. However, their guide betrays them, causing the children to be separated from their mother, and the two begin a daring and frightening journey to cross the 38th parallel to safety. Through Sookan, the author shares an incredible story of the love and determination of her family, the threatening circumstances that they endured during occupations by two totalitarian governments, and the risks they took to escape to freedom. Readers will get a double bonus from this book--a good story, well told, and the reaffirmation of our faith in the human spirit against incredible adversities . -- Lydia Champlin, Beachwood City Schools, OH
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 169 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440407591
• ISBN-13: 978-0440407591
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.5 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > History & Historical Fiction > Fiction > Military & Wars
  • #28 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Military & Wars
  • #33 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Explore the World > Asia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book to read..., January 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Year of Impossible Goodbyes (Paperback)

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 of my favorite book. One of the reasons might be that the story, in many ways, relate to my family background and the life I have. I could truly understand the situation that the family was in while reading the book and felt so comfortable reading the book because it contained many familiar Korean words. I also enjoyed very much of the author¡¯s writing style of her vivid description of every single event and her magical power of putting the pieces of the story together like how you sew a quilt together with different pieces. The story flowed as I read and glued me on to the book that I couldn¡¯t stop reading. There were some vocabularies that I didn¡¯t know, but overall, the level of the vocabulary and story seemed to be perfect for me. This book was similar to a book I read, also written by a Korean author. Because the main characters were Korean in both books and the style of the two authors were similar, I was able to relate the two books in many ways. The challenge that the two main characters were facing because of racism was the most similar thing out of all the others. I enjoyed both books very much and the two books made me want to read another book written by a Korean author. If I were to give a rating from 1 through 10 of this book, I would give it a 9. Although almost every part of the book was enjoyable, there were some parts that I wanted to fix like how I feel towards all the other books I have read. Personally, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Korean history and it¡¯s background and would guarantee that this book will be considered as one of their favorite books like how it was for me.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reading, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Year of Impossible Goodbyes (Paperback)

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!

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK IT SSSSSSSSOOOOOO GOOD!, April 21, 2004

By 

"xkimi_moox" (Seoul, Korea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Year of Impossible Goodbyes (Paperback)

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!