When My Name Was Keoko is a great book written by Linda Sue Park (Clarion Books 2002) about a Korean family during World War II. The Japanese had taken control and occupied Korea. They forced the Koreans to learn and speak only the Japanese language, took their belongings whenever they wanted, and had complete military control of the country. The Japanese forced the Koreans to change their names to Japanese names, which is what the title of the book is referencing. A girl named Sun-hee had to officially change her name to Keoko.The story is told from the perspective of Sun-hee (Keoko) and her brother Tae-yal. It is a realistic historical fictional story of a family during this time of great upheaval. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and there was much uncertainty and fear in Korea and all over the world. Sun-hee and Tae-yal were forced to work for the military collecting materials and building structures instead of attending school. Sun-hee was a linguist and secretly learned the Korean language. Their uncle worked for a resistance group printing a newspaper out of his shop. The Japanese controlled the information getting to the Koreans and would have killed their uncle he was discovered. Uncle had to flee and they were uncertain where he was or what happened to him. Tae-yal joined the military to escape having to answer questions about his uncle and ended up almost being a kamikaze pilot.
This a young adult book (ages 10-14) and is a quality story. It puts the reader in the time and place of WWII in Korea. The characters are complex and they draw the reader into the story.
Literary Elements:
Foreshadowing - Sun-hee is listening in to her father and uncle talking about something and getting upset. She knows something is happening and so does the reader. Later we finds out that they were discussing the fact that the Japanese are forcing them to change their names.
First person - This story is told in first person, but by two different characters. This allows the reader to see what both of the characters are thinking and planning to do.
Language - Sun-hee is interested in language. She has many conversations about it and is interested in learning. She shows Tae-yal and the reader how she remembers the Japanese characters.
Mini-lesson:
This book could be tied in when learning about WWII. It is good for students to feel a connection to history and to the people that were involved. This book could create that connection by sharing the story of a family in Korea during this time. The book could provide the students with perspective and it also brings up many discussion topics: racism, bravery, linguistics, oppression, rebellion, and so on. This would be a good literary circle book. The project we did for class was to create a glogger poster. Here is my glogger poster: http://shannonhady.edu.glogster.com/when-my-name-was-keoko/. Students can create these posters with pictures and videos to give other students a feel for the time period of the book. It is a great learning tool.
