Gathering of Pearls

Year of Impossible Goodbyes #3

by Sook Nyul Choi

In the conclusion of the story that began with Year of Impossible Goodbyes and Echoes of the White Giraffe, Sookan, a young Korean girl, travels to the terrifying new world of New York City to attend college.

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Childrens

163 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

From the days of her childhood, Sook Nyul Choi wanted to be a writer. The first stories, poems, and articles she wrote were in Korean, her first language. Later, after teaching for many years in New York City schools, she began to write in English.

Sook Nyul Choi writes both for children and for young adults. Her own experiences in Korea help to shape her books. One of her main goals is to help young Americans learn about the culture and history of Korea.

Reviews

[Chenzidai]

Gathering of pearls is written by Sook Nyul Choi. This book was adapted from her real personal experience, so it is more like a biographical novel. It took place at New York City in 1954. The name of the book is very elegant and beautiful, that’s one of the reasons I chose it to read. But the main reason is that I was attracted by the book’s theme: Sook overcame a lot of difficulties and strived hard to have a successful achievement.

Sook is a 19 years old Korean girl who left her own homeland to come to United States for college. Her hard work earned her great rewards: scholarships to support her to go to college in New York. The beginning of starting a new life is always hard and struggling. Sook felt very nervous and scared when she first came to a strange country without rural flavor, she was even lost in the airport. When everything was all set, she began to adapt here, she made different kinds of friends. Two main important characters in the book are her roommates Ellen and Marci. They offered Sook a lot of help. They taught her English and introduced her American cultures. Sook knew very little English at that time, but she overcame the difficulties.

Although Sook made a lot of friends in America, she still missed her family and homeland a lot. She kept in touch with her family through sending letters to each other. Sook’s families place their hope in her so she worked very hard to not let her family down. Sook was doing well and got scholarships even so she still had some financial problems.

Her family was not very rich, couldn't give her much support. Therefore, Sook had to look for some part­time jobs from school to earn some extra money, sometimes she would babysit for her professor, and she also worked in campus’s cafeteria. At the beginning, Sook was very shy with strangers. Ellen noticed that so she decided to change Sook. Ellen invited Sook to her party and wanted Sook to meet more friends. First Sook hesitated because she didn’t have a suitable party dress. In order to not let Ellen be upset; she spent her savings buying a fancy dress. When she showed up at the party, everyone was amazed by her beauty. After that, Sook made a lot of friends and became out­going. Ellen was very glad about her changes.

This novel struck a chord. We have a lot in common. We are both Asians and living in another country. We both spoke very little English when we first came here. Under those tough circumstances, Sook excelled academically. She really is a character that we should look up to. This book is worth to read; it will inspire you and encourage you deeply.

[Xin Ru Toh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book diverged from the trilogy in the sense that the writing style was much more sophisticated and mature, and there was little mention of the Japanese colonisation or Korean War. Instead, this book focused on Sookan's personal struggle with culture shock and her new bicultural identity as she began attending college in America. There were rich descriptions of the cultural differences between Korea and America, as well as Sookan's personal growth. I enjoyed this book tremendously due to its ability to point out the complex emotions and situations encountered by immigrants, and I found this book especially relevant as I was taking a module in Cultural Psychology at the time of reading this book.

[Catherine Petrini · Rating 4 out of 5]

After everything she's been through in her short life, Sookan, now 19, finally realizes her goal: she has been accepted into an American college. Leaving her family and her country is difficult; harder still is keeping up her grades while working hard to make enough money to help her family and fulfill the requirements of her scholarship, doing her duty as an ambassador for Korea, and fitting in to a culture so different from the one she knows. And she must do it all in a language she is still learning. Sookan is a sympathetic and vulnerable protagonist; the lessons she learns makes this book a worthwhile read.

[Marcia Murphey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful true story about a young Korean woman who comes to America to attend college a few years after the Korean War. She is learning the American college culture of the 50’s, while also doing her best to stay true to her Korean culture, and complete her studies well. Her innocence and honesty about her struggles are so refreshing, and there is a gentle reminder of the hardships of a war time that is mostly forgotten by Americans today.

[UribeG · Rating 5 out of 5]

its really good

[Tien · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I'm reviewing today is Gathering Of Pearls written by Sook Nyul Choi. It's a fiction story and took place at New York city, United States in 1954. Sook's main theme in Gathering Of Pearls is to tell about someone's struggle to have a successful study during they must lived away from their homeland.
The book is about a young Korean girl, who's 19 years old named Sookan Bak. Sookan was a good student in her homeland Korea, so she received a scholarship from her high school to go to college in New York. She wanted her mother to be proud of her by her education, and also she wanted to have more experiences, so she decided to come to New York. There was only her in a strange country without her folks, so she felt nervous and scare. She didn't know much English, but she could come to Finch College by the bus. At there, she met many kind people especially her roommates named Ellen and Marci. They helped Sookan by teaching her English, and always be her side when she felt hopeless. Also Sookan helped Ellen not to elope with her boyfriend by advising her to obey her parents, and she helped Marci how to be kind with her parents. Her life in a new country had a little struggle about money, but after school time she went to work or babysit to earn more money. By that way, she knew some new kind people were her teacher's children. Although she and her family lived in two different countries but they still sent letters for each other, especially her mother. Sookan's mother always wanted her to be successful and focus on her study, so she didn't tell Sookan when she died until Sookan finished her first year of college. However, she died very peacefully and seemed to be smiling because she knew Sookan was successful.
It's a great book. I like it because I learned the way to struggle in life by oneself and how to be success when you are in a strange country. Besides that, the book had a part that similar to my life was Sookan and I are immigrants that came from Asia, and for the first time we didn't know how to speak English, so I could feel how hard Sookan had when she first came to New York. My favorite scene in the book is when Sookan helped to change her friends, because she was a normal and strange person that just came there but she could use her knowledge and words that she already knew in Korea to help her friends exceeded their selves. I also like the characters Marci and Ellen because they were helpful, and good to Sookan. For example, when Sookan felt sad they always be her side and helped her anything that she needed.
I would recommend the book to the teenagers who are the immigrants or study abroad from their family, because they will know the way to take care their selves in a new country and be successful without their folks. In real life, some people that left their family to go to study in a new world, but they were affected by some bad things and changed their lives by many different ways of living. Therefore, I want to recommend the book for them to let them know who they are and how to keep their selves in culture although wherever they live.
I think this is a good book that I had read. I learned many good things from this book for my life. I hope there will be many people read this book, and they will learn something new from it. If you liked the book Tae's Sonata, you might like this book Gathering Of Pearls because they both tell about the way to struggle for the new life of the two Korean girls when they immigrated to United States.

[Mickeymouse1986 · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Gathering of Pearls' by Sook Nyul Choi is the third book of her mini series about Sookan and it is by far the most touching of the four books. While the first one was about losing your home, the second about living as a refugee but always with the will to go back home the third book is about adjusting to a self chosen completely different home. Choi writes in a fantastic and touching language how she describes the way Sookan is adjusting and getting used to life in America. She also addresses the pressure from Korean culture and how Sookan obeyed but also disdained it.
All in it is an incredible book which I would recommend to everybody. The book is for itself so the previous three books are not to be read to be honest.

[sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

always stay with your family, but dont let your siblings make you feel bad about yourselves. great book. sad, though

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sookan struggles to balance her new life as a college freshman in the US with expectations from her family at home in Korea.

[Martha Valasek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this the best of her trilogy. This one contrast very well the two cultures, Korean versus American in the 1950's.