When my name as Keoko by Linda Sue Park

In my view, one of the best parts of fiction, (not including realistic fiction, of course) is all the world building and getting new information about the setting we are in. What makes Hogwarts, Camp Half Blood, Idris, etc, so real is all the rules, laws, and traditions that support whatever beliefs in their world, so much like our own. One part that makes the world building so interesting is because of the desire to learn about whatever fascinating universe the main character has been dropped into (or is in). So what about historical fiction? While everything broad and important is briefly illustrated in our commonplace textbooks, all the small details of people's daily lives are very vague, so authors able to form a simple family and fill in their lives in a certain era like a coloring book. Even historians are not able to recount about every single family. There is reason why Anne Frank is remembered but all the millions of other Jews who were slain in the Holocaust aren't. What Anne did left a mark in history, like An Chang Goon, so they are remembered and have books and museums about them. But not regular families, which is why historical fiction is both relatable and new all the same. One certain historical fiction is When my name as Keoko by Linda Sue Park. I have read Linda Su's work only once prior, A Single Shard, where I had marveled at the accuracy of the events and culture of the Kora dynasty. Linda Su did not fail me with this book, as I think it also just as detailed and accurate, illustrating the small habits and desires and interlacing them so they form direct clashes with the outside force. The outside force in this novel is the Japanese, who invaded and took over Korea in 1905. 

This is a warning for all Japanese who may be offended by what I am going to write. If you feel uncomfortable reading about cruel acts, you may skip to another book review.

This book begins in 1940, where the first narrator, Sun-Hee, overhears a conversation between the three men in the house. What she hears is later revealed as an order to all Koreans to change their names to Japanese ones. This brings a certain event to mind, during the Olympics some time prior, where Sohn-Kee-Chung, a Korean, was declared winner under the country Japan and the name Kitei Son. The next day, Uncle was taken by the Japanese, cruelly punished, and sent back for publishing his victory in the newspaper under Korean circumstances. This is where we get the idea the Uncle is the most rebellious of the family. We are soon introduced to the two main character's interests: Sun-Hee's bring studies and Tae-Yul's being mechanics. That interest is why he often works at Uncle's worlshop. When the two siblings think that Uncle may be chin-il-pa, they make a promise to each other to reveal whatever information they ound out, one both don't really keep. That is, until Sun-Hee mistakes Tomo's warning to hide their metal. Uncle runs from the town, leaving the Japanese wanting to hunt him down. Meanwhile, things are changing at school, with practice drill after practice drill. Sun-Hee and Tae-Yul both begin to expand their interests, as Sun-Hee starts a diary and Tae-Yul volunteers on an airstrip. When Tae-Yul is taken from school to be forced to help track down Uncle, he instead foils the Japanese plan by volunteering in the military. When he tells this news to his family, they break and weep, but Tae-Yul tells Sun-Hee later the real purpose why he is leaving and asks her to try and interpret his real messages. When a letter does arrive, Sun-Hee deduces that things aren't going well for the Japanese, and later, that Tae-Yul is going to be kamikze, both of which are correct. When the war ends, the family is left to believe that Tae-Yul has died, only he has not, The weather was too bad on the day of the mission, and so the suicide was canceled. The story ends with Tae-Yul deciding to be a printer and Sun-Hee teaching him the Korean alphabet.

One of the things I want to point out is the writing style that changes as the characters mature. At first, Tae-Yul, the brother, complains about how his sister, Sun-Hee, asks too many questions, but later, he says that she is a nice kid, and actually answers her questions  about the war. The same goes for Sun-Hee. When the two siblings first make the deal to try and figure out what is going on with Uncle, both are unwilling to tell their suspicions and thoughts to each other. However, when Tae-Yul asks Sun-Hee to try and decode the true meaning behind his words, she goes to full effort to try and do just that. The way they narrate the story reflects how they trust each other perfectly.

When there is talk of an invasion take ends with a country's defeat, the people whose country has surrendered always has at least some bitter thoughts about the invader, and at least one person tied to the main character works for him somehow, while most others profoundly oppose it. In this story, the person working for the Japanese is Jung-Shin, a daughter of a chin-il-pa, who works for the Japanese. While Jung-Shin may not be directly affiliated with the Japanese, it works as a very vibrant symbol that even people working on opposite ends of war can be cordial to each other. The same goes with Tomo, who takes one step further and tries to warn Sun-Hee about the Japanese taking away their metal.

All of the characters in this story somehow make a difference and oppose the Japanese in some way. The most obvious being the three men, Uncle, Abuji, and Tae-Yul. Uncle runs a illegal newspaper, alerting the Korean people of Japan's cruel deeds. Abjui writes article about education for the mentioned newspaper. Tae-Yul joins the military and plans on taking out a Japanese aircraft, himself along with it. I have to marvel at these people's bravery to do such outright things. 

The females in this book don't back down either, and maybe that's what I like about this book. There is no Cinderella complex where the men go and save the day while the women do the housework and whatever. Each person helps the resistance in her own small way. Omoni keeps the little rose of Sharon tree despite all orders to burn them down. Sun-Hee writes down her own thoughts in her diary. Mrs Ahn helped Uncle in the resistance and rebelled her own small way by not letting the Japanese have her thoughts. It is not the most directive, but equally brave, and in some ways, more effective. 

Well, that's it for now. I hope you come for more book reviews!

-Sooyoung Jo, age 12-