Year of Impossible Goodbyes

By Sook Nyul Choi

This book was my least favorite of the pair with So Far from the Bamboo Grove. I felt that there were a lot of similarities between the two books, but this book was not as easy to relate to the character's life as the other. Each young girl goes through hardships and is brave and courageous enough to overcome them, but I feel that Yoko's story made me more emotional. I think that reading these two books together gives students a great opportunity to discuss how war affects people and how really in the end, we are all humans; it does not matter what side you are on. Therefore, even though I did not care for this book as much as the other, I would absolutely use this book in my classroom. I think that the two books would spark an interesting discussion about the war we are in right now and how civilians across seas are people just like us and not the enemy. Overall, I am excited to have the opportunity to teach these two books each gave me a new perspective on the complexities of war.