The title of the book I chose is A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park. Linda Sue Park was born in Urbana, Illinois on March 25, 1960 and was the daughter of Korean immigrants. At four years old she loved to read and write poems and stories. She wrote A Single Shard, which was published in 2001 and won the Newberry Medal for excellence in children’s literature in 2002. I chose this book because it seemed interesting and had some adventure. The novel begins with a young boy named Tree-ear, whose parents died from a fever, leaving him an orphan.
He lives under a bridge in twelfth-century Korea with a physically disabled man called Crane-man. Crane-man is a wise and very honorable man who is now raising Tree-ear. Tree-ear is fascinated with the potter’s craft and loved to watch one of the master potter’s in the village, named Master Min create beautiful celadon pottery. In the beginning of the novel, Tree-ear was going to watch Min and discovered he wasn’t home.
Tree-ear sneaks into Min’s house looking for him. Min surprises him and catches Tree-ear touching his work. Tree-ear accidently breaks one of Min’s pots because Min scared him.
Tree-ear must then work for Min until his debt is paid off. During this time, Tree-ear hopes Min will teach him how to make pottery. Min is the best potter in the village, but he is also old, cranky and never gives Tree-ear compliments for any work he does. When Tree-ear’s debt is paid, Min asks him to stay and continue working for him.
Min pays Tree-ear by feeding him for the work he does. Min still doesn’t compliment Tree-ear for his work and still does not show Tree-ear how to make pottery. Next, the emperor’s assistant comes to the village and announces the emperor is looking for a new commission.
All the potters work hard to make their best piece in hopes theirs will be selected. During this time, Tree-ear secretly sees a potter named Kang creating a new technique for making inlaid designs of white clay in his pieces. Tree-ear doesn’t tell Min, because he doesn’t know how Kang does this new technique, and he also feels it is not fair to Kang if he tells Min the secret. Later, the emperor’s assistant comes back to the village. He can’t decide which potter’s piece is the best: Kang’s new technique or Min’s unique design piece. He leaves the village, and tells both men he will be back to make his final decision.
After the assistant’s visit, Tree-ear watches Min work hard to make his best pottery. Min becomes frustrated and finally asks Tree-ear about Kang’s work. Tree-ear tells Min about Kang’s inlay technique because he felt it was not a secret anymore because everyone had seen it. Min works extra hard to make inlay designs in his pottery, but becomes very frustrated and breaks all the pieces because he feels they are not good enough. When the assistant comes back, Kang is given the commission. The assistant also visits Min’s house and tells him that Kang’s commission is only for one year.
He tells Min if he is able to produce the same design and bring the piece to Songdo, he still had a chance for the commission. Min was honored, but tells him he is too old to make the trip to Songdo. Tree-ear hears everything, and then finds Min’s wife and offers to make the trip for Min instead. Min’s wife was honored by Tree-ear’s offer. She agreed to talk to Min if Tree-ear would do two things: return to the village safely, and for Tree-ear to call her Ajima, which was something like Auntie. This was an honor to Tree-ear because he has no relatives.
He agrees, and goes home to tell Crane-man about the journey he is about to make. The next day, Tree-ear asks Min if he could teach him how to make a pot, he told him he would travel to Songdo for him. Min answers that he can’t teach him because the craft is passed from father to son, and Tree-ear isn’t his son. He also tells him that he had a son who died. Tree-ear was upset by Min’s answer. Later, Crane-man explained the Korean traditions of pottery to Tree-ear. Even though Tree-ear was disappointed he still was going to make the trip to Songdo, he knew both Min and Crane-man were counting on him.
Ajima and Crane-man helped Tree-ear pack Min’s pottery pieces carefully in straw. Before Tree-ear leaves, he gives Crane-man a gift: a monkey he had been molding out of clay for several months. Tree-ear said it was to remind Crane-man to visit Min daily. However, the monkey really was a symbol to remind Crane-man of him. Crane-man tied the monkey to his belt, and told Tree-ear he was honored to wear his pottery. Crane-man then gives Tree-ear some advice about people: Beware of them, but always go to them if you need help. Tree-ear begins his journey on foot.
After a few days walking, thieves attack him and throw the pots off a cliff. Tree-ear is devastated, but doesn’t think he heard the second vase break. He climbs down, but does find that it broke as well, but into big pieces. He picks up one large piece, or a shard, decides to bring it to the emperor’s palace anyway. On arrival, a guard tells him to give the shard to him to show, but Tree-ear says only he can present the shard. He is permitted to, and is able to tell the emperor what happened on the trip before showing him the shard.
He does, and in gets the commission. When he arrives home, Ajima hugs him and goes to get Min. When Tree-ear gets to see Min, he learns some bad news: While Tree-ear was gone, Crane-man was hit by a farmer’s wagon and died, but was found still holding a clay monkey in his hand. Tree-ear tells Min he was given the commission, and turns to leave. Min then tells him he has something for him: a potter’s wheel of his own. Ajima asks Tree-ear to stay in their home, and they both asked Tree-ear if they could begin to call him “Hyung-pil”.
Min’s deceased son was “Hyung- gu”, and the name Hyung-pil contains a syllable meaning an honor bestowed on a sibling. Tree-ear is no longer an orphan. Showing how sadness can end in happiness was one of the reasons I enjoyed reading this book. For example, when Tree-ear was adopted at the end of the book, after being an orphan for several years shows how sadness can end in happiness. I didn’t like when he figured out he couldn’t learn how to make pottery. The book really explains that helping others can really change somebody’s life.
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