* 'Wonderfully telling scenes evoke the time, the place, and-more subtly-the deep-running emotions that these people, bound by customs and besieged by troubles, were so rarely free to acknowledge.'-Kirkus Reviews, pointer review 'Ms.Choi writes of social, political and personal hurts in a context few young Americans today have experienced.Yet she tells of more than dislocation: she tells of Sookan's personal growth, indeed her triumph.'-New York Times
Sookan, the unforgettable heroine of Year of Impossible Goodbyes, is now fifteen years old and a refugee in Pusan, a city in a southern province of Korea.The Korean War is raging, and she once again has been separated from her father and brothers.Anxiously awaiting any news of them, Sookan imagines a time when she can return to a normal life in Seoul.In the meantime, though she often feels sad, alone, and scared, she finds solace in a forbidden friendship and from the mysterious 'shouting poet' who offers her and her fellow refugees inspiration each morning.
