Year of Impossible Goodbyes

Year of Impossible Goodbyes is a great novel that informs readers about the war, while also teaching them about the Korean culture. I thought it was very interesting to learn about traditions such as praying to Buddha, writing Chinese characters, and meditating. I am glad I got the opportunity to read this book, and also So Far from the Bamboo Grove. I think it is a great idea to give elementary students the opportunity to read both of these books because it exposes them to two different perspectives of WWII. It is important to show students that there is not always one side of a story. These books are great parallels of each other because it shows that both the Koreans and Japanese civilians suffered. These two books are also great resources to use in an elementary school class room because when students learn about WWII they usually get the eurocentric side. These books show that the war was effecting other countries besides Europe and America. I think it wold also be a great idea to do a comparison and contrast with the two books. There are many similarities between the books concerning their struggle for food, money, schooling type, and family. I overall enjoyed Year of Impossible Goodbyes; however, I liked So Far from the Bamboo Grove a bit more. Year of Impossible Goodbyes did not go into as much descriptive detail as So Far from the Bamboo Grove. I felt like I was captured by the emotion of Yoko's story more. I could picture how she specifically was thinking and feeling.