When My Name was Keoko

by Linda Sue Park.

Published: 2012

Genre:Middle School Historical Fiction

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WWII did not just affect Western countries, but it also affected Asia as well. Linda Sue Park shares an Asian point of view through her gift of storytelling. We watch the events of WWII unfold around Sun-yee and Tai-yul, a Korean sister and brother. 

As the term “Third Culture Kid” expands to “Cross-Cultural Kid,” I believe this book represents some broader aspects. 

1. The characters are CCKs: The children at this time were more like CCKs, or “domestic TCKs” in their own home country. The Japanese occupied Korea. They tried to replace the Korean culture with Japanese culture. One way was by changing everyone’s names to Japanese names. So, Sun-yee became Keoko, and Tai-yul became Nobuo. Throughout the story, the family struggles to hang onto their Korean culture by trying to teach the children what it means to be Korean.
2. Language is essential: Korean was forbidden during this time. All classes were conducted in Japanese. No one was to speak or write in Korean. Because of this, the Korean language was almost lost. Sun-yee’s father saw the relationship between culture and language, so he secretly taught her the Korean alphabet. For many non-English speaking families, the language struggle to ensure the children do not forget their “mother tongue” is real.
3. To see the human being: I mean not being judgmental towards other nationalities. Before the Japanese came, Sun-yee’s good friend was the Japanese neighbor boy. As tension builds against the Japanese, Sun-yee becomes confused by what the Koreans say about the Japanese. Her friend is not like those descriptions. When she is older, she does become friends with the Korean girls, but she never has harsh feelings about her neighbor. They help each other out at different times. TCKs/CCKs have the opportunity because of the international schools/communities to see past prejudice and see the person for who they are, not the country their passport says they are from.