Park, Linda Sue 1960-

Personal

Born March 25, 1960, in Urbana, IL; daughter of Eung Won Ed (a computer analyst) and Susie Kim (a teacher) Park; married Ben Dobbin (a journalist), September 8, 1984; children: Sean, Anna. Education: Stanford University, B.A., 1981; Trinity College, Dublin, higher diploma (Anglo-Irish literature), 1984; Birkbeck College London, M.A., 1988. Hobbies and other interests: Cooking, reading, movies, spectator sports.

Addresses

Agent—Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown Ltd., 10 Astor Pl., 3rd Fl., New York, NY 10003.

Career

Children's book author. Food journalist in London, England, 1985-90; teacher of English as a second language in London, and in Brooklyn and Rochester, NY, 1985-2002.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Rochester Area Children's Writers and Illustrators.

Awards, Honors

Seesaw Girl included in 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, New York Public Library, 1999; Newbery Medal, 2002, for A Single Shard; New York Public Library Best Books designation, for Bee-bim Bop! and Project Mulberry; Jane Addams Peace Prize Honor Award, 2003, and American Library Association (ALA) Best Books for Young Adults designation, 2004, both for When My Name Was Keoko; Chicago Tribune Young-Adult Fiction Prize, 2005, for Project Mulberry; ALA Notable Children's Books designation, 2006, for Yum! Yuck!; nominated for various state reading association awards lists.

Writings

Seesaw Girl, illustrated by Jean Tseng and Mou-sien Tseng, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1999.

The Kite Fighters (middle-grade novel), illustrated by father, Eung Won Park, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2000.

A Single Shard (novel), Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2001.

When My Name Was Keoko: A Novel of Korea in World War II, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2002.

The Firekeeper's Son (picture book), illustrated by Julie Downing, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Mung-mung: A Foldout Book of Animal Sounds, illustrated by Diane Bigda, Charlesbridge (Watertown, MA), 2004.

(With Julie Durango) Yum! Yuck!: A Foldout Book of People Sounds, illustrated by Sue Rama, Charles-bridge (Watertown, MA), 2005.

What Does Bunny See?: A Book of Colors and Flowers, illustrated by Maggie Smith, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Project Mulberry (novel), Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Bee-bim Bop! (picture book), illustrated by Ho Baek Lee, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Archer's Quest (novel), Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor of poetry and short stories to literary journals.

Author's work has been translated into several languages, including Korean.

Adaptations

Several books by Park have been adapted as audio-books, including The Kite Fighters, Recorded Books, 2003; A Single Shard, Listening Library, 2003; When My Name Was Keoko, Recorded Books, 2004; and Project Mulberry, Listening Library, 2005. A Single Shard was adapted and produced for the stage in Hopkins, MN, by Stages Theatre Company, 2005.

Sidelights

A poet and novelist, Linda Sue Park won the 2002 Newberry Medal for her novel A Single Shard. Drawing on her Korean heritage, Park sets her stories in Korea's past, and her believable characters have appeared in young-adult novels such as When My Name Was Keoko: A Novel of Korea in World War II as well as in picture books such as Bee-bim Bop! and What Does Bunny See?: A Book of Colors and Flowers. Reviewing Bebim Bop! in Kirkus Reviews, a critic noted the "vivacity and charm" in Park's rhyming tale about a young girl helping her mother prepare a traditional Korean dish, while a Publishers Weekly contributor called the picture book "unabashedly happy" due to Park's "catchy" storyline and "bouncy rhymes." In Booklist, Gillian Engberg also cited the book's "brief, bouncy, rhyming text," going on to note that Park's story "captures the exciting rush of dinnertime preparations."

Published following Park's first children's novel, Seesaw Girl, the middle-grade novel The Kite Fighters features two brothers: Kee-sup has the talent to create beautiful kites, and Young-sup has the ability to fly them competitively. A popular sport in late-fifteenthcentury Korea, kite-fighting is also appreciated by the young king in Park's story; he asks Kee-sup to design a majestic royal kite for the upcoming New Year's competition. Not wishing to be overlooked, younger son Young-sup strikes up a friendship with the king and is eventually chosen to fly the royal kite created by Keesup. While noting that "the brothers have many of the same issues facing siblings today," School Library Journal contributor Barbara Scotto remarked that Park "has drawn her characters with a sure touch." Other critics commented on the historical setting of the novel, Booklist reviewer Catherine Andronik claiming that Park's "fictional story … feels consistently well-grounded in its time and place."

Set in twelfth-century Korea, A Single Shard relates the story of an orphaned boy named Tree-ear and the boy's unplanned apprenticeship with Min, a highly regarded but taciturn potter. Cared for by a lame straw weaver, Tree-ear spends most of his childhood searching for food. Then one day, he accidentally breaks one of Min's ceramic works, and agrees to compensate the artisan by assisting at Min's studio. After his debt is repaid, Tree-ear remains with the potter as an apprentice. Entrusted with transporting two of Min's celadon vases to the palace as a demonstration of the potter's artistry, Tree-ear encounters several robbers and the vases are shattered. Determined to perform his task, the boy continues on to the palace with only a shard of pottery, relying on his ability to convey the beauty of the broken vases and Min's talent.

A Single Shard was praised as a "well-crafted novel with an unusual setting" by Booklist contributor Carolyn Phelan. Again, reviewers noted Park's skill at creating believable characters. Though she found the book "rich in details of life in Korea," School Library Journal contributor Barbara Scotto thought that "what truly stands out are the characters." Praising the novel as "an extraordinarily moving and delightful tale," London Times reviewer Amanda Craig added that Park's "humble heroes remind us that courage comes in unexpected forms. The single shard that the boy rescues of his master's work shows it to possess the ‘radiance of

jade and clarity of water.' This intense, brilliant novel has the same quality.’

Park's novel When My Name Was Keoko features the overlapping narration by Sun-hee and Tae-yul, a sister and brother who live in Korea during the Japanese occupation of the early 1940s. Like others, they are forced to give up their Korean names and their family endures constant observation and monitoring. The siblings also share the concerns of their countrymen when Japan orders them to join military efforts against Korea's potential liberator, the United States. An "unusual" work of historical fiction in the opinion of Kliatt contributor Edna Boardman, When My Name Was Keoko will be enjoyed by teen readers "who like substance in their stories" and can also jump-start discussions across the curriculum.

With Project Mulberry and Archer's Quest Park returns readers to their own time and features contemporary teen protagonists. Twelve-year-old math whiz Kevin has to deal with an unusual problem when legendary Korean leader Koh Chu-mong is transported from 55 B.C. to 1999 America in Archer's Quest. Project Mulberry focuses on Julia Song, an American girl of Korean heritage. Joining classmate Patrick in undertaking a project for their state fair and finds her initial qualms ultimately transformed into a learning experience. At first, raising silkworms seems too Korean for the energetic seventh grader, especially since she identifies more with popular American culture rather than with her ethnic heritage. As the project continues, it brings to light hidden prejudices, science, and the biology of earthworms on the way to what a Publishers Weekly contributor described as a "realistic, bittersweet ending." Of special note to a Kirkus Reviews writer is the "warm friendship" that develops between the two students, a relationship that serves as the cornerstone in "a rich work that treats serious issues with warmth, respect and a good deal of humor." Park's "skillfully written tale will have wide appeal," concluded School Library Journal critic Barbara Scotto, the writer noting that the novelist interweaves a dialogue between her and the fictional Julia throughout the book.

Korean history and culture are also the focus of The Firekeeper's Son, a picture book that finds a young boy named Sang-hee required to take on a man's job when his father is injured. In the nineteenth century, before electricity or telegraph, each of the king's villages must light a fire atop the nearest mountain as a signal that all is well. Sang-hee's father is entrusted with this important task, and when the son readily takes on the responsibility, he also joins the ranks of family ancestors who have performed this task for centuries. Commenting that "the notion of duty to others versus personal longing adds depth to an already fascinating snippet of history," a Publishers Weekly reviewer praised Park for her "assured, empathetic storytelling." In Kirkus Reviews a contributor dubbed The Firekeeper's Son "a lovely telling," while in School Library Journal Wendy Lukehart called the author's "command of place, characterization, and language" "capable and compelling."

In addition to her stories for younger readers, Park has created a pair of lift-the-flap picture books that illustrate cultural differences in an entertaining manner. A collaboration with Julia Durango, Yum! Yuck!: A Foldout Book of People Sounds features common verbal expressions as they are interpreted in the Yiddish, English, Farsi, Danish, Korean, and Yoruba languages, among others, while Mung-Mung: A Foldout Book of Animal Sounds reflects the different approaches people with different languages take to translating animal-speak. Reviewing Mung-Mung, Heather Lotherington wrote in Childhood Education that Park's book serves as a "child-friendly introduction to our multilingual world and all the creatures that live in it," while School Library Journal reviewer Marge Louch-Wouters noted that the selected "onomatopoeic sounds are bright and artful."

Park once commented: "I have been writing all my life, but only after I had children of my own did I feel the desire to explore my ethnic heritage (Korean) through

writing. The fascinating discoveries I made have resulted in several books for young people. I continue to write poetry and fiction for adults as well, but because books were so important to me during my childhood, my work in children's literature holds special importance in my heart." As she explained in her Newbery Medal acceptance speech (as quoted in Reading Teacher), "I … believe that good children's writers share two characteristics with their readers: curiosity and enthusiasm. These qualities are what makes books for young people such a joyful challenge to write and read—the ardent desire to learn more about the world and the passion with which that knowledge is received and shared."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 1999, Shelle Rosenfeld, review of Seesaw Girl, p. 134; April 1, 2000, Catherine Andronik, review of The Kite Fighters, p. 1477; April 1, 2001, Carolyn Phelan, review of A Single Shard, p. 1483; February 1, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of The Firekeeper's Son, p. 982; February 15, 2005, Hazel Rochman, review of Project Mulberry, p. 1079; March 1, 2005, Ilene Cooper, review of What Does Bunny See?: A Book of Colors and Flowers, p. 1205; October 15, 2005, Traci Todd, review of Project Mulberry, p. 88; October 15, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of Bee-Bim Bop!, p. 59; March 15, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of Archer's Quest, p. 50.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, December, 1999, Janice N. Harrington, review of Seesaw Girl, p. 146.

Childhood Education, winter, 2004, Heather Lotherington, review of Mung-Mung: A Foldout Book of Animal Sounds, p. 108.

Horn Book, May, 2000, review of The Kite Fighters, p. 319; July-August, 2005, Susan Dove Lempke, review of Project Mulberry, p. 194.

Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, November, 2002, Alleen Pace Nilsen, review of A Single Shard, p. 266, and interview with Park, p. 269.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2004, review of The Firekeeper's Son, p. 183; April 1, 2005, review of Project Mulberry, p. 422; June 15, 2005, review of Yum! Yuck!: A Foldout Book of People Sounds, p. 688; September 1, 2005, review of Bee-Bim Bop!, p. 980.

Kliatt, March, 2004, Edna Boardman, review of My Name Was Keoko (audiobook), p. 58; March, 2005, Paula Rohrlick, review of Project Mulberry, p. 15.

Times (London, England), January 28, 2006, Amanda Craig, review of A Single Shard.

Publishers Weekly, March 5, 2001, review of A Single Shard, p. 80; February 16, 2004, review of The Firekeeper's Son, p. 171; March 14, 2005, review of Project Mulberry, p. 68; May 8, 2006, p. 66.

Reading Teacher, December, 2002, Nancy J. Johnson, interview with Park, p. 394.

School Library Journal,June, 2000, Barbara Scotto, review of The Kite Fighters, p. 152; May, 2001, Barbara Scotto, review of A Single Shard, p. 158; May, 2004, Wendy Lukehart, review of The Firekeeper's Son, p. 121; June, 2004, Marge Louch-Wouters, review of Mung-Mung, p. 130; May, 2005, Barbara Scotto, review of Project Mulberry, p. 134; June, 2005, Lisa Gangemi Kropp, review of What Does Bunny See?, p. 124; Yum! Yuck!: A Foldout Book of People Sounds, p. 194; September, 2005, Be Astengo, review of Bee-bim Bop!

ONLINE

Linda Sue Park Home Page,www.lindasuepark.com (October 3, 2006).