Year of Impossible Goodbyes

Year of Impossible Goodbyes, by Sook Nyul Choi

Year of Impossible Goodbyes, the second book that was being compared in our class along with So Far From the Bamboo Grove, was another really, really good story. I actually like to consider it as a story within a story, because there are two plot twists in it. A big theme in this book was "spirit." The Japanese army endlessly attempts to tear Sookan and her family apart as they continue to take over Korea, changing Sookan's school, forcing her to work at a sock factory, make weapons for the Japanese army, and eventually Sookan's mother is forced to sell something precious of hers in order to pay for food since their family is struggling to survive. A similar struggle in this book; Sookan's mother also gets sick. Eventually, Russia takes over North Korea, which is where I felt that the second plot came into play, and Sookan and her family attempt to escape to South Korea where America is in control and they can be free. This book has a lot of great details which also draw the reader in, and I still believe that children in elementary schools should be allowed the option to read it. This is an important part in history that shouldn't be lost for being "too real."