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The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart
Now in translation for the first time, the award-winning debut that broke literary ground in Japan explores diaspora, prejudice, and the complexities of a teen girl’s experience growing up as a Zainichi Korean, reminiscent of Min Jin Lee's 'Pachinko' and Sandra Cisneros’s 'The House on Mango Street.'
Seventeen-year-old Ginny Park is about to get expelled from high school—again. Stephanie, the picture book author who took Ginny into her Oregon home after she was kicked out of school in Hawaii, isn’t upset; she only wants to know why. But Ginny has always been in-between. She can't bring herself to open up to anyone about her past, or about what prompted her to flee her native Japan. Then, Ginny finds a mysterious scrawl among Stephanie's scraps of paper and storybook drawings that changes everything: The sky is about to fall. Where do you go?
Ginny sets off on the road in search of an answer, with only her journal as a confidante. In witty and brutally honest vignettes, and interspersed with old letters from her expatriated family in North Korea, Ginny recounts her adolescence growing up Zainichi, an ethnic Korean born in Japan, and the incident that forced her to leave years prior. Inspired by her own childhood, author Chesil creates a portrait of a girl who has been fighting alone against barriers of prejudice, nationality, and injustice all her life—and one searching for a place to belong.
Seventeen-year-old Ginny Park is about to get expelled from high school—again. Stephanie, the picture book author who took Ginny into her Oregon home after she was kicked out of school in Hawaii, isn’t upset; she only wants to know why. But Ginny has always been in-between. She can't bring herself to open up to anyone about her past, or about what prompted her to flee her native Japan. Then, Ginny finds a mysterious scrawl among Stephanie's scraps of paper and storybook drawings that changes everything: The sky is about to fall. Where do you go?
Ginny sets off on the road in search of an answer, with only her journal as a confidante. In witty and brutally honest vignettes, and interspersed with old letters from her expatriated family in North Korea, Ginny recounts her adolescence growing up Zainichi, an ethnic Korean born in Japan, and the incident that forced her to leave years prior. Inspired by her own childhood, author Chesil creates a portrait of a girl who has been fighting alone against barriers of prejudice, nationality, and injustice all her life—and one searching for a place to belong.
168 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
December 27, 2021
Chesil’s (Chesil Hong) 2016, debut novel was originally published in Japan, praised by writers like Yoko Tawada, it was shortlisted for the Akutagawa Prize, and went on to win two other awards. It’s a semi-autobiographical piece based on Chesil’s upbringing as a Zainichi Korean girl, living in Tokyo during the late 1990s. Primarily aimed at younger audiences, it centres on schoolgirl Pak Jinhee (Ginny) whose family, like many Zainichi Koreans, traces its ancestry back to communities of Koreans who either elected, or were forced, to relocate to Japan during Japan’s occupation of Korea. Initially many Zainichi Koreans were the victims of extreme prejudice, living in ghettos (tongne) and ostracised by mainstream Japanese society, a reminder of a past that many in Japan apparently preferred to forget. Even the term Zainichi with its emphasis on “Zai (在)” highlighted their temporary, marginal status within Japan. Here, Ginny’s identity’s further complicated by her family’s links to North Korea and its Chongryun grouping within Japan.
The novel opens in 2003, after being kicked out of schools in Tokyo and Hawaii, Ginny’s living in Oregon with a host mother while attending American high school. Ginny’s a near-stereotypically, rebellious outcast, already on the verge of being expelled, she’s a loner who spends her breaks hiding out listening to Radiohead. Chesil plunges her readers straight into the middle of Ginny’s story, her narrative’s episodic, slightly disjointed and, initially, not that easy to follow. But as the focus shifted to Ginny’s early life in Japan, I found this a lot more lucid and increasingly gripping. Like many Zainichi Korean children at the time, Ginny’s first language’s Japanese, she starts out at a Japanese school, only later transferring to one of Japan’s North Korean schools. An outsider in Japanese school because she’s ethnically Korean, she stands out in Korean school because she’s too Japanese. She’s picked on in the street, targeted by far-right organisations whose vans tour Korean neighbourhoods urging residents to get out of the country, and brutally harassed when North Korea’s missiles feature in the news. However, Ginny’s also coming of age at the height of the Zainichi Korean, civil rights era and she decides to formulate her very own brand of resistance campaign – Chesil’s use of the surname Pak recalls the beginnings of this movement linked to the infamous, 1970 Hitachi case, in which Pak Chong Song sued the company after it withdrew a job offer because of his Korean background. The novel’s not without its problems, and the ending’s far too pat for my taste but, at its best, I thought this was moving and convincing, a fascinating representation of the experiences of Chesil’s generation. Ably translated here by Takami Nieda.
Thanks to Edelweiss Plus and publisher Soho Teen, imprint of Soho Press for an arc
Rating: 3.5
The novel opens in 2003, after being kicked out of schools in Tokyo and Hawaii, Ginny’s living in Oregon with a host mother while attending American high school. Ginny’s a near-stereotypically, rebellious outcast, already on the verge of being expelled, she’s a loner who spends her breaks hiding out listening to Radiohead. Chesil plunges her readers straight into the middle of Ginny’s story, her narrative’s episodic, slightly disjointed and, initially, not that easy to follow. But as the focus shifted to Ginny’s early life in Japan, I found this a lot more lucid and increasingly gripping. Like many Zainichi Korean children at the time, Ginny’s first language’s Japanese, she starts out at a Japanese school, only later transferring to one of Japan’s North Korean schools. An outsider in Japanese school because she’s ethnically Korean, she stands out in Korean school because she’s too Japanese. She’s picked on in the street, targeted by far-right organisations whose vans tour Korean neighbourhoods urging residents to get out of the country, and brutally harassed when North Korea’s missiles feature in the news. However, Ginny’s also coming of age at the height of the Zainichi Korean, civil rights era and she decides to formulate her very own brand of resistance campaign – Chesil’s use of the surname Pak recalls the beginnings of this movement linked to the infamous, 1970 Hitachi case, in which Pak Chong Song sued the company after it withdrew a job offer because of his Korean background. The novel’s not without its problems, and the ending’s far too pat for my taste but, at its best, I thought this was moving and convincing, a fascinating representation of the experiences of Chesil’s generation. Ably translated here by Takami Nieda.
Thanks to Edelweiss Plus and publisher Soho Teen, imprint of Soho Press for an arc
Rating: 3.5
December 12, 2021
I was attracted to this book by the topic of Zainichi Koreans. When I lived in Japan, I remembered seeing school girls wearing the traditional Korean clothes and I wondered how they felt announcing their nationality to everyone. I wondered if they were teased and how they felt being "outed" so to speak. Were they proud, scared, resigned? When you walk through the streets or train station you can't always tell people's nationalities if they are Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. But these girls stood out via their clothing. They were literally announcing their minority status.
This book was not smooth reading for me at first. I'm not sure if that is the fault of the translator or if it is simply the author's style. But I continued on gamely, and I am glad that I did. By the time I finished the book, I felt it had all come together and that this is an important read that needs to be noticed and absorbed.
There's a lot to this book. And there should be a wide readership. It lends itself to class discussion and can be a wake up call on so many different levels. I do wish it read a little more smoothly, but perhaps the awkwardness will end up being a plus for many readers.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.
This book was not smooth reading for me at first. I'm not sure if that is the fault of the translator or if it is simply the author's style. But I continued on gamely, and I am glad that I did. By the time I finished the book, I felt it had all come together and that this is an important read that needs to be noticed and absorbed.
There's a lot to this book. And there should be a wide readership. It lends itself to class discussion and can be a wake up call on so many different levels. I do wish it read a little more smoothly, but perhaps the awkwardness will end up being a plus for many readers.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.
June 22, 2023
نویسنده فقط اومده بود که بگه چقدر از کره شمالی و رهبر هاش متنفره. همین.
March 18, 2022
THE COLOR OF THE SKY IS THE SHAPE OF THE HEART
by Chesil
Soho Press, Soho Teen
Out Apr 5.
This is a beautifully written, important and difficult book geared to YA readers. It recounts the painful life of Ginny, once an ethnic Korean in Japan subject to racism and injustice, who experiences continued troubles in the U.S.
We learn her story through a journal and old family letters, a semi-autobiographical account of the life of author, Chesil, which reveals a young angry displaced girl who just wants to belong somewhere. A highly admired literary gem in Japan, it is translated into English for the first time. Note: Content warning for sexual assault.
Thanks to the author, Soho Press, Soho Teen, and NetGalley for the e-ARC. Opinions are mine.
#TheColorOfTheSkyISTheShapeOfTheHeart
#Chesil #semiautobiography #sohopresssohoteen #NetGalley #YAfictionbook #KoreanTransplantToJapan #bookstgramcommunity
by Chesil
Soho Press, Soho Teen
Out Apr 5.
This is a beautifully written, important and difficult book geared to YA readers. It recounts the painful life of Ginny, once an ethnic Korean in Japan subject to racism and injustice, who experiences continued troubles in the U.S.
We learn her story through a journal and old family letters, a semi-autobiographical account of the life of author, Chesil, which reveals a young angry displaced girl who just wants to belong somewhere. A highly admired literary gem in Japan, it is translated into English for the first time. Note: Content warning for sexual assault.
Thanks to the author, Soho Press, Soho Teen, and NetGalley for the e-ARC. Opinions are mine.
#TheColorOfTheSkyISTheShapeOfTheHeart
#Chesil #semiautobiography #sohopresssohoteen #NetGalley #YAfictionbook #KoreanTransplantToJapan #bookstgramcommunity
July 31, 2022
2.5, rounding down to 2.
I had higher hopes for this book - I have been to Korea several times, and was very interested to hear about Koreans in Japan -but the book was a let-down. Short as it is as just under 160 pages, after diligently reading the first 90 pages yesterday, I quickly became impatient today, and forced myself to skim my way to the end. I could tell that there were some things of substance, perhaps, along the way, but in the words of The Immortal Sage: "Ain't noone got time for that!"** So while this book could be meaningful for a wide variety of people, it gave me next to nothing, I'm really sorry to say.
**Did you get the joke within the joke?
I had higher hopes for this book - I have been to Korea several times, and was very interested to hear about Koreans in Japan -but the book was a let-down. Short as it is as just under 160 pages, after diligently reading the first 90 pages yesterday, I quickly became impatient today, and forced myself to skim my way to the end. I could tell that there were some things of substance, perhaps, along the way, but in the words of The Immortal Sage: "Ain't noone got time for that!"** So while this book could be meaningful for a wide variety of people, it gave me next to nothing, I'm really sorry to say.
**Did you get the joke within the joke?
March 17, 2024
بنظرم به عنوان یه رمان ۱۰۰ صفحه ای تونست حق مطلبو ادا کنه💜
درباره اسم عجیب کتاب هم توی خود کتاب توضیح داده.
رنگ آسمان به شکل قلبه یه تشبیهه.
آسمون بخاطر طلوع و غروب خورشید و عبور ابرا هرلحظه یه شکلی به خودش میگیره و هر تصویری که در اون لحظه داری ازش میبینی گذراست و با تصویر چند لحظه بعدش فرق داره؛ مثل قلب آدما که همیشه یه جور نمیمونه و هرلحظه احساس متفاوتی رو نسبت به لحظه قبل میتونی تجربه کنی.
درباره اسم عجیب کتاب هم توی خود کتاب توضیح داده.
رنگ آسمان به شکل قلبه یه تشبیهه.
آسمون بخاطر طلوع و غروب خورشید و عبور ابرا هرلحظه یه شکلی به خودش میگیره و هر تصویری که در اون لحظه داری ازش میبینی گذراست و با تصویر چند لحظه بعدش فرق داره؛ مثل قلب آدما که همیشه یه جور نمیمونه و هرلحظه احساس متفاوتی رو نسبت به لحظه قبل میتونی تجربه کنی.
February 16, 2022
This story follows Ginny throughout her time as a Korean in Japan as well as her travel to America. The timeline of this book was honestly a little difficult to follow. I don't think it helped that I don't know much about how the school system works in Japan. I'm not a huge fan of stories that switch times, especially without giving proper warning. This story had some glimmers of hope: a girl, an outsider since birth, now an outsider at her schools. A young girl who is frustrated with her home country and doesn't understand how to handle it. However, I don't feel as if the time switching format was appropriate for the story that was trying to be told. I also know this was translated into English. I think adding some more explanation for non-Japanese readers would be beneficial. Overall, I think there were some bright spots in the book, but it was not my favorite.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this manuscript!
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this manuscript!
June 21, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
September 22, 2022
"our history isn't some textbook that no one wants to open. our history can be found in our music. the tears we shed can be found in our songs. shrouded as our ancestors were in darkness, despite knowing their lives would likely end without notice, they never forgot to sing and dance and laugh. their spirit is with us across time. as long as we, the inheritors of that spirit, give our lives to living, the music will never die. our songs will continue to grow. though a change may come, the day of our history's end will not. do not fear. the world is filled with more art than textbooks."
3.5, rounded up
i've struggled a bit with how to properly review this book for a few weeks now. i'm not quite sure how to properly put the emotions i was left with into words. insightful doesn't feel like it covers "the color of the sky" well enough, but the book certainly reveals a lot about the historical experiences of zainichi koreans.
jinhee is a zainichi whose family originated from north korea, yet she doesn't feel like she fully belongs in either culture. she cannot find a place in japan where she's perceived as a foreigner nor can she fit in with her classmates in the korean school as she doesn't speak the language. however, we first meet her in the us – about the be expelled from yet another school, unable to confess what led to her leaving the country that she tried to fit into despite it rejecting her at every step.
this book is heavier than it might first appear, dealing quite explicitly with issues of discrimination, xenophobia, and, in one instance, child sexual assault. it's told in a non-linear way which some readers found made it more difficult to get into. for me personally, the format worked fine. however, by the end of it, there was a feeling that the story was somewhat incomplete and probably could've carried on a few chapters longer.
the translation is somewhat complicated to talk about. on the one hand, there were brilliant instances of prose, like the one i've quoted above. on the other hand, sometimes the language felt a bit too simplistic. i can't compare the original to the translation, so it's possible that the choice of register was intentional, though, so it's not something i can critique too much.
thanks to soho teen and netgalley for the access.
3.5, rounded up
i've struggled a bit with how to properly review this book for a few weeks now. i'm not quite sure how to properly put the emotions i was left with into words. insightful doesn't feel like it covers "the color of the sky" well enough, but the book certainly reveals a lot about the historical experiences of zainichi koreans.
jinhee is a zainichi whose family originated from north korea, yet she doesn't feel like she fully belongs in either culture. she cannot find a place in japan where she's perceived as a foreigner nor can she fit in with her classmates in the korean school as she doesn't speak the language. however, we first meet her in the us – about the be expelled from yet another school, unable to confess what led to her leaving the country that she tried to fit into despite it rejecting her at every step.
this book is heavier than it might first appear, dealing quite explicitly with issues of discrimination, xenophobia, and, in one instance, child sexual assault. it's told in a non-linear way which some readers found made it more difficult to get into. for me personally, the format worked fine. however, by the end of it, there was a feeling that the story was somewhat incomplete and probably could've carried on a few chapters longer.
the translation is somewhat complicated to talk about. on the one hand, there were brilliant instances of prose, like the one i've quoted above. on the other hand, sometimes the language felt a bit too simplistic. i can't compare the original to the translation, so it's possible that the choice of register was intentional, though, so it's not something i can critique too much.
thanks to soho teen and netgalley for the access.
November 14, 2021
The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart by Chesil was a thoughtful YA contemporary read. I feel it was perhaps a mistake to reference Pachinko in the blurb because, while they tackle the same theme, they do so on a different scale and with a different audience in mind, so if you come to this book expecting something like Pachinko, you might be disappointed. The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart is a story on a much smaller scale, but it is no less impactful for that. Ginny was an engaging character who caught my interest from the start and held it throughout. You could really see her grow throughout the course of the story as she dealt with the difficulty of always being an outsider. Her story contained some dark moments and difficult themes, but ultimately there was a spark of hope. I consumed the book in a single night and it gets a solid 4-star rating from me.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 9, 2024
while i adored all of the many beautiful lines in this book, my biggest takeaway after reading was that it felt unfinished and disjointed :( i had so many questions that were left vague and unanswered (. i’m not sure if something was lost in translation or if it was originally written like this, but it felt disconnected.
that said, i like jinhee’s perspective and learning about her life and experiences in japan as a zainichi korean. i just wish i got a little bit more from the story :,)
fav quotes:
“the color of the sky is the shape of the heart. it means no view ever looks the same.”
“what if by giving voice to the discrimination and grievances of the world, we’re turning a blind eye to the heart of the matter?”
“their spirit is with us across time. as long as we, the inheritors of that spirit, give our lives to living, the music will never die. our songs will continue to grow.”
that said, i like jinhee’s perspective and learning about her life and experiences in japan as a zainichi korean. i just wish i got a little bit more from the story :,)
fav quotes:
“the color of the sky is the shape of the heart. it means no view ever looks the same.”
“what if by giving voice to the discrimination and grievances of the world, we’re turning a blind eye to the heart of the matter?”
“their spirit is with us across time. as long as we, the inheritors of that spirit, give our lives to living, the music will never die. our songs will continue to grow.”
April 5, 2023
3.5 stars for short read with undelivered potential.
Plot (partially taken from cover blurb):
Seventeen year old Ginny Park is about to get expelled from school — again. She’s currently living with her foster mom, Stephanie, who is a famous picture book author in Oregon. Stephanie adopted Ginny after she was kicked out of school in Hawaii. Ginny struggles to speak about her past, or what caused her to flee her native Japan. She runs away with only her journal for company, recounting her childhood growing up an ethnic Korean in Japan.
I absolutely loved the premise (and the cover. I almost added another star just for that cover.) The story is partly autobiographical, and told slices of history I had never head before. However, the timeline was extremely confusing. Multiple questions were never addressed. How did she end up in Hawaii? How did she meet Stephanie? What happened to her parents? (They simply faded out of the picture.) The book might have been able to deliver more had it simply been longer. I also understand the translation might account for some of it, as well.
In the end: an intriguing plot which simply needed more time to spin out.
Trigger warning for (not very detailed) sexual assaults, racism, violence
Plot (partially taken from cover blurb):
Seventeen year old Ginny Park is about to get expelled from school — again. She’s currently living with her foster mom, Stephanie, who is a famous picture book author in Oregon. Stephanie adopted Ginny after she was kicked out of school in Hawaii. Ginny struggles to speak about her past, or what caused her to flee her native Japan. She runs away with only her journal for company, recounting her childhood growing up an ethnic Korean in Japan.
I absolutely loved the premise (and the cover. I almost added another star just for that cover.) The story is partly autobiographical, and told slices of history I had never head before. However, the timeline was extremely confusing. Multiple questions were never addressed. How did she end up in Hawaii? How did she meet Stephanie? What happened to her parents? (They simply faded out of the picture.) The book might have been able to deliver more had it simply been longer. I also understand the translation might account for some of it, as well.
In the end: an intriguing plot which simply needed more time to spin out.
Trigger warning for (not very detailed) sexual assaults, racism, violence
May 7, 2022
Takami Nieda’s translation gives American readers a glimpse into the complex cultural dynamics for ethnic Koreans in Japan. The young narrator struggles with this identity along with all of the normal teen coming of age hurdles. Not only young readers, but anyone who has felt marginalized or “less than” due to otherness will bond with Jinhi right away.
The book has short chapters with varying settings, which at times becomes disruptive to a smooth, linear read. However, this is probably authentic to the narrator’s memory and frame of mind at the time of the telling.
I get glimpses of some beautiful writing, but I also get some stilted phrasing here and there. Metaphors such as the one in the title are artistic and, for the most part, seem to survive the translation well. The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart would be a strong addition to public and school libraries across the country.
Thank you to Chesil, Takami Nieda, Soho Teen, and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
The book has short chapters with varying settings, which at times becomes disruptive to a smooth, linear read. However, this is probably authentic to the narrator’s memory and frame of mind at the time of the telling.
I get glimpses of some beautiful writing, but I also get some stilted phrasing here and there. Metaphors such as the one in the title are artistic and, for the most part, seem to survive the translation well. The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart would be a strong addition to public and school libraries across the country.
Thank you to Chesil, Takami Nieda, Soho Teen, and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 30, 2023
A fantastic debut novel, using some of the forms of YA in a strikingly political Bildungsroman. From the perspective of a Japanese-born Korean, like the author herself, the story starts in the US, and leaps back to the past, thinking through a series of vignettes involving power dynamics around ethnic, national and gender lines, and then culminates in moment of political explosion. Some of the YA voice elements, few as they are, are a big irksome, and I’m not sure the US framing device adds much, but this is a great first novel nonetheless and Chisel is one to watch for sure.
March 14, 2022
Devastatingly and quietly heartbreaking. Sign me up for the Jinhee/Ginny protection squad
June 28, 2022
This was not my type of book.
I didn't particularly enjoy it.
I can't remember where I heard of this book, but I wouldn't recommend it.
2.4/5
I didn't particularly enjoy it.
I can't remember where I heard of this book, but I wouldn't recommend it.
2.4/5
March 6, 2023
A short and interesting read, if you want my opinion. I think that was the first time I read a novel with a main character with such a conflicted identity. It's also possibly my first story from a Zainichi character/perspective, which makes it even more riveting in my eyes. The story in itself was great, but I admit I expected something so different that I felt a wee bit disappointed at times. I still believe that's a good read and would definitely recommend it to my fellow East-Asian lit. lovers!
March 13, 2023
Interesting topic and character, but it feels like an incomplete book.
January 10, 2024
Beautifully written and translated. As someone who enjoys historical fiction, specifically about the more hidden moments of history, this book opened my eyes to the prejudice present across different ethnicities and nationalities. I did not struggle with the switching of present time, past time, and journaling, but I do see how this could be difficult to many readers. Overall, this book is a quick, somewhat easy, read that allows the reader to see history through the eyes of someone who lived it.
February 24, 2024
یچیزی که راجع به این رمان خیلی باعث شد تعجب کنم و ازش خوشم بیاد این بود احساسات رو به خوبی و خیلی واضح بیان میکرد یه ویژن درست و حسابی میداد بهت که باعث میشد بتونی همه چیزی که میگه رو تصور کنی،در کل کتاب بدی نبود
July 24, 2022
This is not for me. I like lyrical but this one threw a reader into a story without enough explanation about who or what was going on and I struggled to figure it out even knowing a little about the story having read the summary. I understand it would share a story of a past of marginalized Koreans growing up in Japan but I couldn't wade through the story to find Ginny and Stephanie and care.
I think part of it is the translation into English and the writing style which is different than writing for an American audience. It doesn't work for me. Plus I also felt like it wanted more weight than it had to share a transformative experience of a girl but because I wasn't vested, I didn't get in to it.
I think part of it is the translation into English and the writing style which is different than writing for an American audience. It doesn't work for me. Plus I also felt like it wanted more weight than it had to share a transformative experience of a girl but because I wasn't vested, I didn't get in to it.
July 7, 2022
This is a good book but I wish there were more details. I wanted to know more about the main character. What happened to her parents? How did she end up in America? I felt like I had more questions after finishing the book than I had answers.
May 8, 2022
The story of a Zainichi Korean teenager growing up in Japan, I think "The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart" is a good novella let down by Chesil lack of experience in telling a story.
In "The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart" we get to know Ginny, who seems to have heaps of problems in high school (in danger of being expelled... again), and her journey to that moment. The biggest problem I found is that it feels as if the story is all over the place, jumping in place and time with little focus and time to develop the story. Our main character is all over the place, which makes sense them being a teenager, but also makes the story come and ago with random changes of scenery and little time to develop the characters. From the ones when she studies in a Japanese school, to the North Korean one and then to Hawaii I felt that what we were encountering were little vignettes with little or non cohesion. There is little in terms of creating a narrative that develops the inner world of the characters and all end up being stereotypical or cartoonish. This extends to Ginny, with whom is difficult to connect.
I think when Chesil is trying to explain how things are in the North Korean high school within Japan or how people react to some situations she does a better job than when developing Ginny as a human being. Those little snippets of Japanese everyday life and social commentary are the highlight of a book that could be much more than what it ends up being..
The best: getting to know more about Koreans in Japan and the life, difficulties, etc. that they have to go through
The worst: the story is all over the place; the characters are cardboard cutouts
Alternatives: watch "Go"
6/10
(English translation by Takami Nieda)
*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy*
In "The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart" we get to know Ginny, who seems to have heaps of problems in high school (in danger of being expelled... again), and her journey to that moment. The biggest problem I found is that it feels as if the story is all over the place, jumping in place and time with little focus and time to develop the story. Our main character is all over the place, which makes sense them being a teenager, but also makes the story come and ago with random changes of scenery and little time to develop the characters. From the ones when she studies in a Japanese school, to the North Korean one and then to Hawaii I felt that what we were encountering were little vignettes with little or non cohesion. There is little in terms of creating a narrative that develops the inner world of the characters and all end up being stereotypical or cartoonish. This extends to Ginny, with whom is difficult to connect.
I think when Chesil is trying to explain how things are in the North Korean high school within Japan or how people react to some situations she does a better job than when developing Ginny as a human being. Those little snippets of Japanese everyday life and social commentary are the highlight of a book that could be much more than what it ends up being..
The best: getting to know more about Koreans in Japan and the life, difficulties, etc. that they have to go through
The worst: the story is all over the place; the characters are cardboard cutouts
Alternatives: watch "Go"
6/10
(English translation by Takami Nieda)
*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy*
December 7, 2022
"The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart", written by Chesil and translated from Japanese by Takami Nieda, is a semi-biographical coming of age story, partly based on Chesil's own experience growing up in Japan as a Zainichi Korean. Originally published in Japan in 2016, it was shortlisted for the prestigious Akutagawa prize, and was awarded two other Japanese literary awards.
The book follows Jinhee (Ginny) Pak, an Ethnic Korean school girl growing up in Tokyo during the late 1990s. In her daily life she faces a lot of discrimination and harassment from peers and adults around her. In addition, Jinhee is constantly dealing with a sense of not belonging. As a Korean who speaks Japanese rather than Korean, Jinhee never feels Korean enough. As a Japanese of Korean ethnicity, she is not considered and does not feel Japanese. The narrative is quite disjointed, and the tone of the narrative feels aloof. While that seems to be an issue with a lot of readers, I felt it was appropriate in this context, and it enhanced reading Jinhee's story.
Even though the primary audience for the novel is teens and young adults, there's a lot here for the older audience also. Personally, apart from the beautiful writing and strong characters that I enjoyed, I felt like I learned a lot about Japan and the Korean minority there. The book promped me to do a bit more research about the Chosun schools and the North Korean community in Japan, both of which were very interesting topics to learn about.
Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Teen, an imprint of Soho Press, for the e-arc. All opinions are my own. "The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart" has been available to English readers since April 2022.
The book follows Jinhee (Ginny) Pak, an Ethnic Korean school girl growing up in Tokyo during the late 1990s. In her daily life she faces a lot of discrimination and harassment from peers and adults around her. In addition, Jinhee is constantly dealing with a sense of not belonging. As a Korean who speaks Japanese rather than Korean, Jinhee never feels Korean enough. As a Japanese of Korean ethnicity, she is not considered and does not feel Japanese. The narrative is quite disjointed, and the tone of the narrative feels aloof. While that seems to be an issue with a lot of readers, I felt it was appropriate in this context, and it enhanced reading Jinhee's story.
Even though the primary audience for the novel is teens and young adults, there's a lot here for the older audience also. Personally, apart from the beautiful writing and strong characters that I enjoyed, I felt like I learned a lot about Japan and the Korean minority there. The book promped me to do a bit more research about the Chosun schools and the North Korean community in Japan, both of which were very interesting topics to learn about.
Thank you to NetGalley and Soho Teen, an imprint of Soho Press, for the e-arc. All opinions are my own. "The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart" has been available to English readers since April 2022.
June 15, 2022
I was extremely excited to get this in the mail. I knew right away I wanted to read this as part of the Asian Readathon Challenge 2022. Sadly, I wasn't able to connect with protagonist or the story as much as I would have liked. Both the story and characters didn't have the depth I was hoping for. Not to mention, the writing felt disjointed at times. Not sure if things got lost in translation or not, but it didn't quite meet my expectation.
***I would like to thank Goodreads for hosting the giveaway, Chesil (the author), and SoHo Teen for graciously sending me an ARC to review.***
***I would like to thank Goodreads for hosting the giveaway, Chesil (the author), and SoHo Teen for graciously sending me an ARC to review.***
May 7, 2022
THE COLOR OF THE SKY IS THE SHAPE OF THE HEART is a fantastic book. A coming-of-age literary fiction by Chesil, this book tells us, in less than 160 pages, the story of Ginny and her journey so far. Reminiscent of teen novels full of angst of the age and the struggle they go through, TCOTSITSOTH is a fantastic portrayal of a teenager who's Zainchi Korean, aka a Korean born and raised in Japan. While reading the book, I found the tone similar to The Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger. Like Holden, Ginny also struggles and tries to blend in with the status quo. However, her identity is the opposite of the status quo and how long can you hide who you are?
The story begins with Ginny now in a high school in Oregon. Her foster mother, Stephanie, found her in Hawaii and brought her to Oregon. Here, Ginny also struggles to fit in. It could've been her fresh start in life. But her past and her inability to accept what's happening around her hold her back. She's almost expelled from her school but is given a second chance. She goes on a road trip by herself and slowly, she remembers her life in Japan and what happened there that made her leave.
Ginny was born as a Korean living in Japan with her extended family in North Korea. Given the brutal colonization of Korea by Japan and how the general populace and their government still don't acknowledge their ancestors' crimes (let alone apologize and atone for them), rather simply brush them under the rug, the Zainchi Koreans are treated horribly. Ginny, since childhood, attended the Japanese schools. However, in junior high, she was transferred to a Korean school. Unable to speak Korean fluently due to growing up in Japan, Ginny struggles to fit in. She's bullied by her classmates and her seniors alike. Her teachers either treat her aloofly or sternly. Her parents are no help. She doesn't know what to do. When the news of North Korea launching missiles over Japan reaches them, the prejudices begin to stir up and Ginny is caught in the crossfire. The trauma she faces in the aftermath and her response to them are quite harrowing yet understandable. The adults are supposed to protect the children. Yet, they are the ones who use and abuse the children's innocence. As her rebellion, Ginny pushes the limit that shocks the adults and her peers alike.
Here, like Holden, Ginny wants to protect the innocence of kids like her. According to her, whenever a child faces problems, they're allowed to react two ways: grow up earlier or act rebellious. Throughout the book, she mostly follows the former. Nothing changes. So, when she does the latter, chaos ensues and she is left burnt and bruised in the aftermath. Throughout the book, she alone is blamed and punished.
I love the blunt statements Ginny makes across the book. How the world thinks through the South Korean lenses whenever anything about the Korean existence comes up. Nobody thinks about the North Korean lenses. About the people subjugated there by the Kim family. When the media says Korean music, Korean drama, Korean food, Korean artists, they mean South Korean, not North Korean. Yet, when the Japanese bigots abuse the Zainchi Koreans, they don't ask first if they're from the North or the South. They just abuse and hurt.
Thank you, NetGalley and Soho Press, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
The story begins with Ginny now in a high school in Oregon. Her foster mother, Stephanie, found her in Hawaii and brought her to Oregon. Here, Ginny also struggles to fit in. It could've been her fresh start in life. But her past and her inability to accept what's happening around her hold her back. She's almost expelled from her school but is given a second chance. She goes on a road trip by herself and slowly, she remembers her life in Japan and what happened there that made her leave.
Ginny was born as a Korean living in Japan with her extended family in North Korea. Given the brutal colonization of Korea by Japan and how the general populace and their government still don't acknowledge their ancestors' crimes (let alone apologize and atone for them), rather simply brush them under the rug, the Zainchi Koreans are treated horribly. Ginny, since childhood, attended the Japanese schools. However, in junior high, she was transferred to a Korean school. Unable to speak Korean fluently due to growing up in Japan, Ginny struggles to fit in. She's bullied by her classmates and her seniors alike. Her teachers either treat her aloofly or sternly. Her parents are no help. She doesn't know what to do. When the news of North Korea launching missiles over Japan reaches them, the prejudices begin to stir up and Ginny is caught in the crossfire. The trauma she faces in the aftermath and her response to them are quite harrowing yet understandable. The adults are supposed to protect the children. Yet, they are the ones who use and abuse the children's innocence. As her rebellion, Ginny pushes the limit that shocks the adults and her peers alike.
Here, like Holden, Ginny wants to protect the innocence of kids like her. According to her, whenever a child faces problems, they're allowed to react two ways: grow up earlier or act rebellious. Throughout the book, she mostly follows the former. Nothing changes. So, when she does the latter, chaos ensues and she is left burnt and bruised in the aftermath. Throughout the book, she alone is blamed and punished.
I love the blunt statements Ginny makes across the book. How the world thinks through the South Korean lenses whenever anything about the Korean existence comes up. Nobody thinks about the North Korean lenses. About the people subjugated there by the Kim family. When the media says Korean music, Korean drama, Korean food, Korean artists, they mean South Korean, not North Korean. Yet, when the Japanese bigots abuse the Zainchi Koreans, they don't ask first if they're from the North or the South. They just abuse and hurt.
Thank you, NetGalley and Soho Press, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
March 20, 2022
I was initially really excited to pick this up because it has been compared to both Pachinko and Go, two books that I really loved. I guess you could say that my expectations were probably too high because of this, but from the very beginning I didn’t really love the writing style of this book. It’s hard to say if the simple writing is the same in Japanese, but I never found myself getting into a proper cadence with it. Since, Takami Nieda also translated Go, I think it has more to do with the original than the translation. However, I also never felt fully emotionally invested in the characters.
Aside from Ginny, basically all the characters are one-dimensional and lacked anything to make me feel anything. Don’t get me wrong, I think that racism is wrong and that alone makes me feel something, but that is my own morals and has nothing to do with the writing skill of the author or her ability to tell a story.
I know that this is semi-autobiographical and I always feel a bit weird rating stories like this. I feel like I’m passing judgement on their life, which I’m not. I’m passing judgement on their writing. Well, usually, I can think of one autobiography where I was judging life choices, but that’s not this case for this one. For this book, I just mostly felt disconnected from everything.
As I’m not a complete stranger to the zainichi, I didn’t really need a basic primer as to what that means, but some readers may need more than this book provides. I was looking for some sort of internal struggle between her heritage and the country of her birth, which I didn’t really get. Ginny can hardly speak any Korean at the beginning of this novel, so to say that she’s struggling with any inherited alliance to Korea is not a thing.
Overall, I guess I would recommend this for readers looking for something semi-autobiographical about the zainichi. The only reason I made it past the 20% mark was sheer determination and the fact that it is so short. I’m not particularly inclined to pick up anything by Chesil in the future, but I would pick up something else translated by Takami Nieda.
Aside from Ginny, basically all the characters are one-dimensional and lacked anything to make me feel anything. Don’t get me wrong, I think that racism is wrong and that alone makes me feel something, but that is my own morals and has nothing to do with the writing skill of the author or her ability to tell a story.
I know that this is semi-autobiographical and I always feel a bit weird rating stories like this. I feel like I’m passing judgement on their life, which I’m not. I’m passing judgement on their writing. Well, usually, I can think of one autobiography where I was judging life choices, but that’s not this case for this one. For this book, I just mostly felt disconnected from everything.
As I’m not a complete stranger to the zainichi, I didn’t really need a basic primer as to what that means, but some readers may need more than this book provides. I was looking for some sort of internal struggle between her heritage and the country of her birth, which I didn’t really get. Ginny can hardly speak any Korean at the beginning of this novel, so to say that she’s struggling with any inherited alliance to Korea is not a thing.
Overall, I guess I would recommend this for readers looking for something semi-autobiographical about the zainichi. The only reason I made it past the 20% mark was sheer determination and the fact that it is so short. I’m not particularly inclined to pick up anything by Chesil in the future, but I would pick up something else translated by Takami Nieda.
May 25, 2022
"But maybe it's okay if I didn't try so hard all the time. If it's okay to take what life gives me, I think I'd like that. Maybe I'm not meant to do anything. Maybe I'm meant to do nothing and just let life happen. And it'll be all right, because another star will always be shining. If I made like a shadow and disappeared, maybe that would put everyone's mind at ease."
TL;DR: A really tricky book to review because until after I had finished it, I genuinely thought this was a memoir, not a work of fiction. And I believe it is "inspired" by Chesil's life, so that may have been a source of confusion for me.
Ultimately, a powerful vignette-type story that offered a glimpse into an identity-conflict I knew little about.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Vibes: Not really applicable here.
Genre: Realistic YA/NA Semi-Auto-biography / Creative Non-Fiction
Romance Meter: ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
Romantic love is not the focus here. Maybe some elements of self-love/acceptance.
Character MVP: Not really applicable here...
Verdict: A really tricky one to review for me, but one which I ultimately enjoyed.
I had never heard of Zainichi Koreans before, or the prejudice and discrimination they face(d) living in Japan, so I found this to be a powerful testimony/account of navigating identity.
As I mentioned above, I did think this was a memoir the entire time I was reading, and it was only afterwards that I realized that it was a work of fiction. So that's why I think some of the things other reviewers took issue with didn't really bother me.
The rules for memoir / creative-non-fiction are a little bit looser; in memoir -- I'm thinking of All Boys Aren't Blue which I read last summer -- the goal is not necessarily to tell a "traditional" story with a clear beginning-middle-end and straightforward plot & conflict. You get snapshots, selectively curated by the author to convey the point they want you to. So here, for me, the goal was Chesil's experiences growing up as Zainichi Korean, and other things, like what happened to her biological parents and the details of how and why she ended up in Oregon, weren't *as important* to the "story."
Ultimately, this was a quick and "easy" read -- I wasn't bothered by the translated prose -- although the subject matter was heavier at times. I found Ginny's struggles to be heartbreaking and a pause for reflection.
TL;DR: A really tricky book to review because until after I had finished it, I genuinely thought this was a memoir, not a work of fiction. And I believe it is "inspired" by Chesil's life, so that may have been a source of confusion for me.
Ultimately, a powerful vignette-type story that offered a glimpse into an identity-conflict I knew little about.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Vibes: Not really applicable here.
Genre: Realistic YA/NA Semi-Auto-biography / Creative Non-Fiction
Romance Meter: ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
Romantic love is not the focus here. Maybe some elements of self-love/acceptance.
Character MVP: Not really applicable here...
Verdict: A really tricky one to review for me, but one which I ultimately enjoyed.
I had never heard of Zainichi Koreans before, or the prejudice and discrimination they face(d) living in Japan, so I found this to be a powerful testimony/account of navigating identity.
As I mentioned above, I did think this was a memoir the entire time I was reading, and it was only afterwards that I realized that it was a work of fiction. So that's why I think some of the things other reviewers took issue with didn't really bother me.
The rules for memoir / creative-non-fiction are a little bit looser; in memoir -- I'm thinking of All Boys Aren't Blue which I read last summer -- the goal is not necessarily to tell a "traditional" story with a clear beginning-middle-end and straightforward plot & conflict. You get snapshots, selectively curated by the author to convey the point they want you to. So here, for me, the goal was Chesil's experiences growing up as Zainichi Korean, and other things, like what happened to her biological parents and the details of how and why she ended up in Oregon, weren't *as important* to the "story."
Ultimately, this was a quick and "easy" read -- I wasn't bothered by the translated prose -- although the subject matter was heavier at times. I found Ginny's struggles to be heartbreaking and a pause for reflection.
May 1, 2024
Picked up an ARC copy of The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart in the staff lounge at the library where I work. I was drawn to it because it's a translation of a contemporary Japanese work about being a Korean teen in Japan. At the back of my mind, I wondered how it would compare with John Green's books because I know being a Korean raised in Japan can be difficult.
While the prose will never be compared to Virginia Woolf and the story telling to Charles Dickens, I found The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart engrossing. It's not the expose of Japanese prejudice against Koreans that I thought it might be. It's more of a critique of the structure of Korean education of Korean children in Japan. It's very focused in that respect. Mostly, it shares with many YA books, including several of John Green's, an exploration of the seemingly universal disconnect and rebellion felt by many teens, regardless of the culture or country in which they are raised. Oddly, and interestingly, it presents a tilt-headed, curiosity-filled picture of the warm, soft acceptance embraced by other teens who belong to a marginalized or, at least, highly distinct community.
Chesil's main character, Jinhee, is likely to resonate with tweens and teens in any culture, but in America she will find companions in Hispanic, Jewish (think a younger version of Chaim Potok's Asher Lev), and even Japanese-American communities.
While the prose will never be compared to Virginia Woolf and the story telling to Charles Dickens, I found The Color of the Sky Is the Shape of the Heart engrossing. It's not the expose of Japanese prejudice against Koreans that I thought it might be. It's more of a critique of the structure of Korean education of Korean children in Japan. It's very focused in that respect. Mostly, it shares with many YA books, including several of John Green's, an exploration of the seemingly universal disconnect and rebellion felt by many teens, regardless of the culture or country in which they are raised. Oddly, and interestingly, it presents a tilt-headed, curiosity-filled picture of the warm, soft acceptance embraced by other teens who belong to a marginalized or, at least, highly distinct community.
Chesil's main character, Jinhee, is likely to resonate with tweens and teens in any culture, but in America she will find companions in Hispanic, Jewish (think a younger version of Chaim Potok's Asher Lev), and even Japanese-American communities.
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