Year Of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi

Year Of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi is a compelling book written in a style which truly conveys the feelings of the author and the main character. This novel is set in World War II, in North Korea, around Pyongyang. The main character and her family lives in a fairly small house, which is near a sock factory, which makes socks and other clothing for the Japanese soldiers who are fighting the "White Devils". Korea has been taken over by the Japanese and Sookan's (the main character) mother must get by by making socks. Their house has a large pine tree, under which Sookan's grandfather often meditates. They live in small village. Later, the setting changes to a settlement south of Pyongyang, when Sookan's family tries to escape to South Korea.

The main character of this book is a girl named Sookan. She lives with her mother, her seven-year-old brother, Inchun, and her grandfather, who later dies in the book. Sookan's father and three older brothers are in Manchuria, and are part of the resisitance against the Japanese. She deeply loves and respects her mother and grandfather and greives deeply when her grandfather dies. She also hates the Japanese and later, the Communist Russians. She is strong minded and is willing to take charge as she must do when she is seperated from her mother and has to care for her brother. She changes greatly throughout the novel, beginning as a little dull and clueless, to brave and fearless.

The author writes in first person, focusing on the character's feelings and occasionally filling us in on the outside world. It is also very descriptive. The style is serious and sophisticated. The author also uses few long words,preferring to use simpler words to paint a picture. She is so good at this that it appears that you are really there. Sook Nyul Choi also describes the character's feelings extremely well.

The story starts out with Japan occupied Korea, where Officer Narita is harassing Sookan and her family. Later, the story moves on to when Sookan's grandfather dies. Then, Sookan has to go to a Japanese school and is punished when she speaks Korean. Next, the war ends and all Korea rejoices. The Korean flag is flown, and everyone feasts. However, the Russians come in and bring Communism to Korea. In addition, South Korea is occupied by the Americans. First Sookan's family is oppressed by the Japanese and is now oppressed by the Russians. They hate the Russians and formulate a plan to cross the North Korea/South Korea border. The rest of the story is about how Sookan and her brother get seperated from their mother and manage to get to North Korea.

The theme of this book is that the love you have for family can outlast even the hardest times. Sookan loves her mom and stays strong throughout the whole ordeal of getting to South Korea, just becauseof her love for her mom and brother. Instances of this are portrated multiple times throughout the book.

The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell

I have just finished the short story, The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. It is a suspensful action story that takes place on an a scary, abandoned island. General Zaroff, a Cossack hunter, hunts humans for sport because he is tired of the other animals that could only run from him and were not able to reason. His victim is Sanger Rainsford, a respected hunter himself. This hunt on the island is filled with chilling suspense and fast-paced action. The title is very well fitting because hunting humans is the most dangerous game because both can reason and think for themselves and are more than capable of killing the other. The story is about Rainsford trying to keep himself alive while trying to kill General Zaroff.

The best part of this story is the action-filled chase between Zaroff and Rainsford. In the chase, Rainsford uses a variety of traps to catch Zaroff. This is exciting because the author wrote the story in great detail and shows you well how Rainsford makes these traps. But the worst part is the long-winded introductory conversation between Zaroff and Rainsford. It is quite tedious and I think that the author could have made the story a little better by eliminating some parts of the conversation.

The ending is almost ubrupt. Rainsford returns from the forests on the island and kills Zaroff with his knife. I think this ended the story a little to soon. I would have liked to see what Rainsford would do next on the jungle. I really don't think there really was anything that the author hadn't tied up.

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech Chapters 1-18

After reading the first 18 chapters of Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, I was intrigued by the beautiful writing style and descriptive word choice. So far in the book, Salamanca (the main character in the book) and her grandparents go on a road trip from Bybanks, Kentucky to Lewiston, Idaho to see Sal's deceased mother's grave. Her father agrees to this trip because he has already seen the grave and wants to be alone with Margaret Cadaver, his now girlfriend.

Some time ago, Sal's mother went on a trip in a bus, taking the same route as the one Sal and her grandparents are taking on their road trip now. Then, through some horrific accident, Sal's mom passes away. This has deeply affected Sal and her father. Sal's father is obviously very sad about losing his wife and I believe he is trying to find happiness with another woman, namely, Margaret Cadaver. It has also affected Sal. Sal now can feel by herself now. When her mother was alive, Sal always felt what her mom felt. Now, she can be happy when she wants to. Also, understandably, whenever Sal is reminded of her deceased mother , she remembers a single event that has something to do with the object. Like how eating blackberry pie reminds Sal of her mother's love of blackberries. All these memories make her sad.

Back to the road trip. To pass the time, Sal's grandparents ask her to tell them a story. Therefore, Sal begins to spin a yarn about her time in Euclid, Ohio, where Margaret has found her father a new job. There Sal makes friends with her next-door neighbors, the Winterbottoms. The youngest of the Winterbottoms, Phoebe, is her best friend in Euclid. Phoebe is very paranoid and sees danger everywhere. One time, when a young man came to her door, seeking Mrs. Winterbottom, mostly because of her paranoia , possibly because he was a stranger seeking her mom, and how she thought he might have a knife hidden in his tight jeans. She also thought he looked the right type/age to be a crazy,"escaped lunatic" who would jump into her house and slaughter them all. So far, I have found Walk Two Moons to be an enjoyable book that I am eager to complete and find out what happens next.