Echoes of the White Giraffe — Sook Nyul Choi

This follow-up to The Year of Impossible Goodbyes provides a revealing look at the role of women in Korean society, and the coming of age of one exceptional young woman. Sookan, the unforgettable heroine of "Year of Impossilbe 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. This follow-up to "The Year of Impossible Goodbyes" provides a revealing look at the role of women in Korean society, and the coming of age of one exceptional young woman.