Book Review of When my name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park
Name of book: When my name was Keoko Author Name: Linda Sue Park ISBN: 0-618-13335-6 Publisher: Clarion Books New York Type of book: Young adult to Adult, Japanese occupation of Korea, World War 2, Korea 1940-1946 Year it was published: 2002 Summary: For Kim Sun-hee's whole life, Korea has belonged to Japan. Sun-hee and her older brother, Tae-yul, have grown up studying Japanese and speaking it at school. THeir own language, Korean, can be spoken only at home, and some Korean things-like the flag-are not to be spoken of at all. When teh Emperor of Japan decrees that all Koreans must take Japanese names, Sun-hee and Tae-yul become Keoko and Nobuo. It is just one more step in a familiar process, but somehow it changes everything. THen World War II comes to Korea. No battles are fought on Korean soil, yet soldiers are everywhere. At school, teh students have war preparation duties instead of classes. But makng Koreans take Japanese names has not turned them into lo...