A Piece of Home
Illustrator
Hyewon Yum
Publisher
Candlewick Press
Publication Year
2016
ISBN
9780763669713
Pages
32 pages
Genre
realism
Format
picture book
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
When Hee Jun’s family moves from Korea to West Virginia, he struggles to adjust to his new home. His eyes are not big and round like his classmates’, and he can’t understand anything the teacher says, even when she speaks s-l-o-w-l-y and loudly at him. As he lies in bed at night, the sky seems smaller and darker. But little by little Hee Jun begins to learn English words and make friends on the playground. And one day he is invited to a classmate’s house, where he sees a flower he knows from his garden in Korea — mugunghwa, or rose of Sharon, as his friend tells him — and Hee Jun is happy to bring a shoot to his grandmother to plant a “piece of home” in their new garden. Lyrical prose and lovely illustrations combine in a gentle, realistic story about finding connections in an unfamiliar world.
Grade Level
K-3
Lexile Measure
AD650L
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Culture/Ethnicity; Language barrier; Immigrants and refugees; communication barrier; learning a new language; immigrant family; immigrant child
Main Character
male child
Race/Ethnicities
Asian (Korean)
Family Formation
mother, father, and grandmother
Awards
Cybils Awards, 2016, Nominee, Fiction Picture Book
Ezra Jack Keats Book Award - New Writer, 2017, Winner, Children's Book
Best Children's Books of the Year, 2017 Ages 5 to 9
Best of the Best Books, 2016 Picture Book
Booklist Book Review Stars, 2016
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens, 2017 Ages (7 - 10)
Notable Children's Books, 2017 Younger Readers
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2017 Kindergarten to 2nd grade
Keywords
Korea; school; home; moving; struggling in school; Mugunghwa plant; friendship; adjusting
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Watts, Jeri, "A Piece of Home" (2016). Diverse Families. 1698.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1698