Linda Sue Park
By: Megan Mass & Shasta Eganhouse
About the Author:
Linda was born in Urbana, Illinois and grew up outside of Chicago. She is the daughter of Korean immigrants and grew up writing poetry and stories. From elementary school to high school she had a number of poems published in magazines for children. Her first poem was published when she was nine years old in Trailblazer Magazine in 1969. She graduated from Stanford University with a degree in English and competed on their gymnastics team. She met her husband in Dublin, had two children, taught English as a second language to college students and worked as a food journalist. Their family moved back to the United States in 1990 and she wrote her first children's book in 1997. She has published many books since then and has received a variety of awards. She currently lives in western New York with her husband where her son and daughter also reside. Quotes:
"All too often, people get "writing" and "publishing" mixed up in their heads. Writing is a worthwhile endeavor for anyone who feels the impulse to put their thoughts on paper"
"A mistake made with good in your heart is still a mistake, but it is one for which you must forgive yourself." -- When My Name was Keoko
"How could an alphabet -- letters that didn't mean anything by themselves -- be important?
Novels
This novel is based on the true story of Salva, an 11 year old refuge from Sudan in the year 1985 and the story of Nya who lives in Sudan in the year 2008. Escaping from his home village that is attacked, Salva walks through the desert and spends numerous years in refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. Nya spends her days walking to and from a pond to bring her family water. Both of these characters are strong and amazing characters. This book shows students not to take for granted some of the things we have because some people don't have those things.
This novel is about a 12 year old boy named Tree-Ear. He lives in South Korea and an orphan who lives under a bridge and is cared for by an elderly man. He enjoys watching a potter named Min and when he accidentally breaks something in his workshop, he offers to work for Min for nine days. Min has Tree-Ear collecting and chopping wood and digging for clay. Secretly Tree-Ear wants to make pottery and learns that Min will not teach him because it is something that is passed down from father to son and Min's son had died. Min begins working on a new set of pottery but keeps smashing them because of imperfections. Left with just a single shard, the Emissary grants Min commission because he can still see what talent he has even in that single shard. Tree-Ear continues to work for Min and they eventually adopt him as their son and he learns the art of pottery.
Personal Response: After reading this book I thought of multiple ways that I could use it in my future classroom. I really liked how it introduced a variety of different languages and the words and phrases that are introduced are simple ones that students could incorporate into their everyday conversations. This could be used with younger children when talking about different cultures. The writing done by the author in this book is very short but still gets the message across.
A young boy and his father collect "tears" from trees. One day after harvesting a large "tear" they take it too the marketplace where three strangers want to buy the tear. The boy and his father sell the tear to the men as a third gift to their collection. Their other two gifts are gold and frankincense and they are adding the gift of myrrh to be given to a newborn baby.
This is the story of a young boy named Sang-Hee who lives in a village in Korea. His father climbs the mountain every night to light a fire to signal the other firekeepers on different mountains to light their fires. When his father sees a fire on the next peak he knows that all is well in the land and if there is no fire that something is wrong. If there is trouble then the king will send soldiers. One night when the fire is not lit but everything is fine in the village Sang-Hee climbs to the top of the mountain to light the fire. He finds that his father has hurt his ankle and continues to light the fire every night until his father is well.
"A mistake made with good in your heart is still a mistake, but it is one for which you must forgive yourself." -- When My Name was Keoko
"How could an alphabet -- letters that didn't mean anything by themselves -- be important?
But it was important. Our stories, our names, our alphabet. Even Uncles's newspaper.
It was all about words.
If words weren't important, they would try to hard to take them away." -- When My Name was Keoko
Awards:
Awards:
A Single Shard
Newberry Medal Award (2002)
ALA Best Book for Young Adults (2002)
ALA Notable Book for Children (2002)
Booklist Editor's Choice (2001)
When My Name Was Keoko
Publisher's Weekly Best Books of the Year (2002)
School Library Journal, Best Books of the Year (2002)
New York Public Library, 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing (2002)
ALA Notable Book for Children (2003)
ALA Best Book for Young Adults (2003)
Project Mulberry
Chicago Tribune Young Adult Fiction Prize (2005)
Notable Books for a Global Society (2005)
Iowa Children's Choice Award Nominee (2008)
Many of her other titles such as The Third Gift, A Long Walk to Water, Keeping Score, Archer's Quest, Bee-bim Bop!, What Does Bunny See?, The Firekeeper's Son, Tap Dancing on the Roof, Seesaw Girl & The Kite Fighters have all been nominated and received various awards.
Book List:
Novels
Seesaw Girl (1999)
The Kite Fighters (2000)
A Single Shard (2001)
When My Name Was Keoko (2002)
Project Mulberry (2005)
Archer's Quest (2006)
The Kite Fighters (2000)
A Single Shard (2001)
When My Name Was Keoko (2002)
Project Mulberry (2005)
Archer's Quest (2006)
Click (2007)
Keeping Score (2008)
A Long Walk to Water (2010)
The 39 Clues - Storm Warning (2010)
Keeping Score (2008)
A Long Walk to Water (2010)
The 39 Clues - Storm Warning (2010)
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick (2011)
The 39 Clues - Trust No One (2012)
Picture Books
The Firekeeper's Son (2004)
The 39 Clues - Trust No One (2012)
Picture Books
The Firekeeper's Son (2004)
Mung-Mung (2004)
Bee-bim Bop! (2005)
Bee-bim Bop! (2005)
Video: Meet the Author -- Linda Sue Park
Major Work Annotations:
A Long Walk to Water (2010)
By: Linda Sue Park
This novel is based on the true story of Salva, an 11 year old refuge from Sudan in the year 1985 and the story of Nya who lives in Sudan in the year 2008. Escaping from his home village that is attacked, Salva walks through the desert and spends numerous years in refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. Nya spends her days walking to and from a pond to bring her family water. Both of these characters are strong and amazing characters. This book shows students not to take for granted some of the things we have because some people don't have those things.
Personal Response: After reading this book I thought this was an awesome book that could be used for upper elementary and middle school students. It had two very strong characters in it and I really liked how Linda Sue Park intertwined two different stories from two different time periods and perspectives. It also made me think about how I sometimes take things for granted like having clean drinking water at my disposal. The writing style in this book was kind of like a journal. Each chapter started with the place and time period that it was taking place in.
A Single Shard (2001)
By: Linda Sue Park
This novel is about a 12 year old boy named Tree-Ear. He lives in South Korea and an orphan who lives under a bridge and is cared for by an elderly man. He enjoys watching a potter named Min and when he accidentally breaks something in his workshop, he offers to work for Min for nine days. Min has Tree-Ear collecting and chopping wood and digging for clay. Secretly Tree-Ear wants to make pottery and learns that Min will not teach him because it is something that is passed down from father to son and Min's son had died. Min begins working on a new set of pottery but keeps smashing them because of imperfections. Left with just a single shard, the Emissary grants Min commission because he can still see what talent he has even in that single shard. Tree-Ear continues to work for Min and they eventually adopt him as their son and he learns the art of pottery.
Yum! Yuck! (2005)
By: Linda Sue Park
Illustrated By: Sue Rama
This pop-up book talks about all different types of sounds and sayings that people make. It includes how many, many different languages besides English, say certain things and the pictures reflect the cultures.
Personal Response: After reading this book I thought of multiple ways that I could use it in my future classroom. I really liked how it introduced a variety of different languages and the words and phrases that are introduced are simple ones that students could incorporate into their everyday conversations. This could be used with younger children when talking about different cultures. The writing done by the author in this book is very short but still gets the message across.
The Third Gift (2011)
By: Linda Sue Park
Illustrated By: Bagram Ibatoulline
A young boy and his father collect "tears" from trees. One day after harvesting a large "tear" they take it too the marketplace where three strangers want to buy the tear. The boy and his father sell the tear to the men as a third gift to their collection. Their other two gifts are gold and frankincense and they are adding the gift of myrrh to be given to a newborn baby.
The Firekeeper's Son (2004)
By: Linda Sue Park
Illustrated By: Julie Downing
This is the story of a young boy named Sang-Hee who lives in a village in Korea. His father climbs the mountain every night to light a fire to signal the other firekeepers on different mountains to light their fires. When his father sees a fire on the next peak he knows that all is well in the land and if there is no fire that something is wrong. If there is trouble then the king will send soldiers. One night when the fire is not lit but everything is fine in the village Sang-Hee climbs to the top of the mountain to light the fire. He finds that his father has hurt his ankle and continues to light the fire every night until his father is well.
Personal Response: After reading this book I thought it was a good example of family and how different generations in a different culture interact. It was also a good example of helping people when they are in need. This writing style used lots of dialogue between characters and narration to give background information.
Bibliography:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=linda+sue+park
No comments:
Post a Comment