Fiction - Asian People, Places & Cultures, Fiction - Emotions & Behaviors, Fiction - U. S. People, Places & Cultures, Fiction - Family Life

Good-Bye, 382 Shin Dang Dong

Name: Good-Bye, 382 Shin Dang Dong
Author: Frances Park
ISBN: 9780792279853

by Frances Park, Ginger Park, Yangsook Choi

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Overview

Jangmi, a young Korean girl, can't bear the thought of leaving her home at 382 Shin Dang Dong and moving to America. At the good-bye party for her family, she and her friend Kisuni sit under the willow tree in the rain, reassuring each other they will stay in touch. The new house in Massachusetts seems forbidding at first. But Jangmi's special things arrive, the neighbors bring food, and Jangmi meets a young girl named Mary. By the end of the book, Jangmi is beginning to feel comfortable in her new surroundings. Stirring illustrations mirror the moods of this sensitive story and capture the eXotic beauty of Jangmi's Korean homeland.

Jangmi finds it hard to say goodbye to relatives and friends, plus the food, customs, and beautiful things of her home in Korea, when her family moves to America.

Synopsis

Jangmi, a young Korean girl, can’t bear the thought of leaving her home at 382 Shin Dang Dong and moving to America. At the good-bye party for her family, she and her friend Kisuni sit under the willow tree in the rain, reassuring each other they will stay in touch. The new house in Massachusetts seems forbidding at first. But Jangmi’s special things arrive, the neighbors bring food, and Jangmi meets a young girl named Mary. By the end of the book, Jangmi is beginning to feel comfortable in her new surroundings. Stirring illustrations mirror the moods of this sensitive story and capture the eXotic beauty of Jangmi’s Korean homeland.

Publishers Weekly

"My heart beats in two places" begins this tale of an eight-year-old Korean girl who moves to America with her parents. The authors (My Freedom Trip), inspired by events in the life of their older sister, trace young Jangmi's last day at home-on the eve of monsoon season, filled with reluctant goodbyes-and her first day in her new country. "I didn't want to go to America and make new friends. I didn't want to leave my best friend, Kisuni," Jangmi says. The narrative works in subtle parallels: a going-away party with family and friends ("Everybody ate and sang traditional Korean songs and celebrated in a sad way") gives way to "a parade of neighbors... carrying plates of curious food" in her new American neighborhood; she leaves behind a willow tree in Korea to discover a maple in her yard in Massachusetts-and she makes a friend who "giggled-just like Kisuni!" Choi (Nim and the War Effort) effectively contrasts the landscapes and customs of the two cultures, including a Korean city skyline and a glorious array of foods at the farewell luncheon, as well as the row houses in Massachusetts and Jangmi's first exposure to casseroles. The book nimbly charts the common anxieties of a child moving to a new place, from worries about making friends to the strangeness of new surroundings. Choi's oil paintings, with their subdued, saturated colors and perspectives that emphasize Jangmi's loneliness, create an effective backdrop for this resonant tale. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

About the Author, Frances Park

Frances Park

FRANCES PARK and GINGER PARK are the authors of several award-winning books for children. The idea for The Have a Good Day Cafe originated many years ago when the authors would drive to work together and see a Korean family setting up an outdoor food cart each morning. The Parks both live in the Washington, D.C., area.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3-Jangmi looks sadly at her room. The hand-painted scrolls and colorful fans have been removed from the walls and the silk cushions and straw mats are no longer on the waxed floor in preparation for her family's move from Korea to the U.S. She takes one last visit to the open-air market with her friend Kisuni to buy chummy, her favorite melon. After a farewell party, Jangmi and her friend promise to write to one another. Jangmi's first reaction to her new home in Brighton, MA, is to see only the differences. However, she begins to feel more at home when her familiar possessions arrive and she meets her new neighbors, including a girl her own age. The oil paintings done in a simple, childlike style are formally framed with white space. While this quiet story explores the universal fear of change in rather predictable ways, children will find the details of cultural differences and the immigrant experience well evoked.-Adele Greenlee, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Though the subject of moving day is a popular theme, the Parks (Where on Earth is My Bagel, 2001, etc.) provide a unique perspective on the experience. Jangmi relates her memories of her move from her Korean home to America when she was eight years old. She wakes to the beginning of the monsoon rains on her roof in her room stripped of all her belongings that her parents have packed in a big brown box marked "Lovely Things." Her best friend, Kisuni, arrives and at the market they pick out their favorite food for the farewell luncheon that day. They sit under the willow tree and share the chummy, a type of melon, sad to soon be separated. At the luncheon, family and friends "celebrate in a sad way" with traditional foods and Korean songs: "Love, laughter and tears ripple through the house." Four days later, Jangmi and her parents arrive to begin a new life in Brighton, Massachusetts. As Jangmi arranges her "lovely things" in her own room, all of the neighbors arrive with "plates of curious food" and "something called casseroles." Jangmi meets a girl called Mary who asks what kind of food Jangmi eats in Korea. When Dad translates the question and Jangmi answers "Chummy," Mary giggles—just like Kisuni. The parallels of life in Korea and America are smartly conceived, and young readers will immediately identify with Jangmi and her friends. Korean terms, easily recognized in the context, add richness. Choi’s (Earthquake, 2001, etc.) oils on the opposite page of the text are simple and focus on the young girl, though the two countries are distinct in the illustrations. A gentle and loving story perfectly pitched to its audience. (Fiction. 6-9)