Year of Impossible Goodbyes

Year of Impossible Goodbyes

by Sook Nyul Choi

This children's novel tells the heartbreaking story of ten-year-old Sookan as she lives in North Korea as it is occupied by the Japanese. When her father and three older brothers leave their hometown, Sookan and a couple of family members are left behind and forced to run a sock factory for the war effort. This story is so heartrending as Sookan and her family are forced to drop all of their history and customs. With the war's end the Russian Communists move into the devastated area and does not make life any easier for the remaining family. Sookan, her mother, and younger brother try to escape to safety past the 38th parallel. This breathtaking story gives readers a true feeling of what it was like for a young girl living in North Korea during World War II. Choi's writing is so descriptive that it makes the words come alive off of the page. I would defiantly plan to read this book after reading So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins. By pairing the two books, readers can see how much stories can change based upon the point of view from which they are told. Both of these books tell the story of the Korean conflict in World War II that I have not heard before with two very different perspectives. Reading children's novels like these can teach children so much more than a textbook, dates, and articles could because they allow students to really think about the situation. Overall, I enjoyed both of these books so much because they carry so much emotion within the rich descriptions.

Intended Age 9-12