In the Shadow of the Sun, by Anne Sibley O'Brien

It’s been a while since I read a book, YA or adult, that captured me so thoroughly that I didn’t want to stop reading, and that I couldn’t stop thinking about until I finished reading it. IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN was such a book. It follows Korean adoptee Mia Andrews and her brother Simon on a tour gone terribly wrong that devolves into a frightening and thrilling journey in one of the most closed countries on earth, North Korea. The author, who grew up in South Korea, has done thorough homework—the story feels authentic and the details ring with the truth of cultural accuracy and historical veracity. The book has a unique structure that includes a smart introduction to North Korea via a “travel guide,” and short interludes of voices of certain North Korean characters whom the youth encounter, if only briefly, on their harrowing journey. This combination brings a wider perspective on Mia and Simon's dilemma, and gives valuable glimpses of a varied and complex North Korean society and daily life. While the action is a page-turner, Mia’s inner journey of identity and courage, as well as Simon’s, and the shift in their brother-and-sister relationship is equally authentic and compelling. Mirroring today's political dilemma with issues of trust with North Korea, Mia and Simon are constantly confronted with questions about who to trust, and their instincts and choices are a lesson for us all. A terrific book about how a girl’s daunting journey enriches her inner journey, and a story and setting that expands one’s understanding of this country that is often in the news, and about which little is known.

Sondok: Princess of the Moon and Stars, by Sheri Holman

(Young Adult) The coming-of-age fiction, told in diary form, explores the life of Korean Princess Sondok (595 AD) during the Three Kingdom period of ancient Korea before she became the first reigning queen of Silla in 632 AD. During a period of rife factionalism between Buddhism, Confucianism and Shamanism/Animism, young princess Sondok finds peace in the studying the stars. Barred as a female from formal education, Sondok manages to learn from a Chinese envoy and discovers astronomy. The story is of an adolescent girl who investigates issues of warring faiths in her time, and who ultimately becomes queen to a period when Buddhism will flourish and the remarkable astronomical observatory that still stands today in Korea will be built.

To Swim Across the World, by Ginger Park

A fictionalized biography of the lives of the parents of authors Frances and Ginger Park. Told in the alternating viewpoints of the boy and girl, the story also traces historical information about relevant Korean history as the narrators come of age, survive the Korean War, fall in love, immigrate to America, assimilate and explore Christian faith. Frances Park’s debut novel is When My Sister Was Cleopatra Moon, and she and her sister Ginger co-authored the children’s book, My Freedom Trip: A Child’s Escape from North Korea.

The Fold, by An Na

Na’s second novel (YA) addresses the notions about Asian beauty and the prevalent eye surgery that make Asian eyes “more Western.” Joyce has to decide if she wants to have the eye surgery offered to her by her plastic-surgery-addicted aunt. Often compared as lesser than her beautiful older sister, Joyce didn’t even think about her appearance until she met the most handsome boy in her school.

YELL-Oh Girls! Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American, by Vickie Nam

An anthology of stories, poems, essays and letters by young (ages 15-22) Asian-American women who write about coming of age, identity, sexuality, stereotypes, school, culture, isolation and interracial dating.

Seesaw Girl, by Linda Sue Park

Jade Blossom, being an aristocrat's child, cannot leave her family compound, until one day she does—to see her sister who recently married. Her adventure is unprecedented for a girl of her class, and brings uproar to the family. Very young adult.

The Color of Earth, by Kim Dong Wha

This beautifully rendered graphic novel is fairly explicit in telling the coming-of-age story of the protagonist, Ehwa, whose mother runs a tavern. Ehwa discovers her body, blossoms into her adolescence, and becomes enamored of a young monk and a farmer's son home from school with a hurt arm. She gives up the monk at the end, in favor (in her thoughts) for the farmer's son. Much flower analogies, beautiful illustrations. Mother as a tavern owner puts up with a lot of guff from her wine drinking customers, but she herself has an occasional lover, a traveling salesman. This is Part I of a trilogy. Translated by Lauren Na.

The Rascal and the Pilgrim: The Story of the Boy from Korea, by Anthony Kim

An orphaned boy survives the evacuation of Seoul and the Korean War, eventually immigrates to his dream America, with the sponsorship of several military workers and a Benedictine priest. Shu, orphaned as a very young boy, lives in Seoul in a poor house with “Mama Pak,” who basically is the head of a gang of beggars. When Seoul is evacuated with the sudden invasion of the North Koreans and Chinese Communists, Shu manages to cross the Han River with thousands of other refugees, crawling on hands and knees on the railroad bridge. The next several months on the road are filled with the horror of death and war, including attachments quickly made, and just as quickly lost to bomb deaths and gore. He shows himself to be resourceful, stealing food and water, and also yearning always for human attachment: a constant search for a mother and father figure. The descriptions of his wartime experiences are truly horrific, and while told with a child's voice and not the best English, the stories of torn flesh and fields of death for one so young is unforgettable. He is wounded and is nursed back to health by the Americans. Thus begins his attachment to the USMGIK as a “helper,” running errands, shining shoes, learning smatterings of English as he also learns to dream of a different future, of a future at all. He becomes obsessed with going to America, and eventually finds people who become attached to “Little Joe,” including a Colonel, translator, social club female director and a priest, and he finally does make it, many years later, and attends college. The story is among the earliest English-written autobiographies from the Korean War about a Korean orphan, and while the setting and circumstances are remarkable and fascinating, his choice to use the voice of his youth to narrate his story, and his stubborn self-centeredness (which were essential to his survival) don't convey well to modern terms of being able to grow attached to the narrator. It also falls into the genre of Christian-themed literature, though that is not its main focus. It remains an amazing story of one who finally did make it from the gutter to an American college and an American wife. Fortunately for Western readers, his precociousness and lack of early education overcome the normal Korean cultural reticence to tell all.

Gathering of Pearls by Sook Nyul Choi

Concludes the series of three autobiographical fiction books about growing up near Pyeongyang during the Japanese Occupation, through the turmoil of the Russian and American occupations, and flight to South Korea. In this sequel to YEAR OF IMPOSSIBLE GOODBYES and ECHOES OF THE WHITE GIRAFFE, Sookan Bak spends her first year after the Korean War in NYC, attending college, trying to fit in and also meet rigid family expectations.

Echoes of the White Giraffe by Sook Nyul Choi

Sequel to YEAR OF IMPOSSIBLE GOODBYES, the story follows the narrator (semi-autobiographical story) to South Korea where many trials and tribulations continue to pursue the family in times of hardship and war.

Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi

This series of three young adult novels follow a girl from North Korea following the Japanese occupation, and then during the war years to Pusan, a journey of love and personal independence despite cultural strictures, then immigration to U.S. The book is followed by ECHOES OF THE WHITE GIRAFFE, and GATHERING OF PEARLS.

When My Name Was Keoko: A Novel of Korea in WWII by Linda Sue Park

Fictionalized memoir of Korean girl and her brother set toward then end of Japanese occupation, when everyone was required to take a Japanese name. My young adult nephew and another niece loved this book, and felt they learned so much, as well as admired the protagonist. An earlier autobiographical writing of the same event is LOST NAMES by Richard E. Kim.

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

Young adult historical novel of 12th century orphan boy who through perseverance becomes a renowned ceramicist. Newberry Award winner.

The Lucky Gourd Shop by Joanna Catherine Scott

An imagined tale of the mother of three Korean girls the author adopted. This fictionalized story tells the sorrowful story of a simple orphan girl, in postwar Korea (mid-late 1950s) who works in a gourd shop. She comes to have an abusive boyfriend who also beats his wife, and eventually marries him, since she is downtrodden, not terribly smart and mostly without other options. The grandmother holds the strongest positive influence, but is old and ill and gives up kids at the end.

A Part of the Ribbon by Ruth S. Hunter

Two martial arts students time travel through Korean history to learn about the origins of their athletic arts. (Young adult)

My Freedom Trip: A Child's Escape from North Korea by Frances and Ginger Park

After the Korean War, a child is sent to South Korea by her mother who hopes to provide her a better life than in the North. The story tells of leaving her mother and home to go on a frightening journey with a gentle guide, who leads her through woods and mountains and across a river to safety. International Reading Association Award, inspired by the Parks' mother's stories.

Lost Names by Richard E. Kim

Describes the life of a Korean boy (the author) south of Pyongyang during the harshest era of the Japanese occupation, 1930-1945. The boy is from a small farming family with an apple orchard; his father is a political activist. History is plaintively inserted in a present-tense narrative that describes vivid scenes of school days, family life, infringement of Japanese mores into Korean traditional rural life, and how the language seeped into Korean culture. A precursor to WHEN MY NAME WAS KEOKO, by Linda Sue Park. Originally published 1988, New York: Universe Books.

Chesi's Story: One Boy's Long Journey from War to Peace by Link S. White

An early memoir by a Korean adoptee follows a young war orphan popular among GIs who is finally adopted at age 11 by an Air Force sargeant. Christian-based. A similar story is THE RASCAL AND THE PILGRIM, by Anthony Kim.

The Girl-Son, by Anne E. Neuberger

Taken from the autobiographies of Induk Pahk, (a personal family friend), this story targeted toward youth boils down Pahk’s early years and her persistence in gaining an education. It portrays turn-of-the-century Korean life and culture with the kind of details that make the story real and poignant, and the trials and bravery of both mother and daughter toward self-improvement are truly inspiring. What is missing is Pahk's deep Christian faith, and the cover illustration shows a Westernized vision of Korea in that era. Pahk’s three books are September Monkey, Wisdom of the Dragon and The Cock Still Crows.

Archer’s Quest, by Linda Sue Park

Kevin, a middle schooler or a little younger, is a Korean American boy bored with just about everything, and has an ambivalent relationship with his math-genius father. By magic, the legendary Korean archer, Koh Chu-mong, from ancient Korean history (Koguryo period) appears in room. In their quest to return Koh to his time and place, Kevin learns important lessons that will bring discipline and interest back into the everyday chores of school, and establish a new and exciting connection with his Korean heritage, and his father. (Young Adult)