num_pages: 169
description: It is 1945, and courageous ten-year-old Sookan and her family must endure the cruelties of the Japanese military occupying Korea.  Police captain Narita does his best to destroy everything of value to the family, but he cannot break their spirit.  Sookan's father is with the resistance movement in Manchuria and her older brothers have been sent away to labor camps.  Her mother is forced to supervise a sock factory and Sookan herself must wear a uniform and attend a Japanese school.Then the war ends.  Out come the colorful Korean silks and bags of white rice.  But Communist Russian troops have taken control of North Korea and once again the family is suppressed.  Sookan and her family know their only hope for freedom lies in a dangerous escape to American-controlled South Korea.Here is the incredible story of one family's love for each other and their determination to risk everything to find freedom.
language: English
title: Year of Impossible Goodbyes
titlecomplete: Year of Impossible Goodbyes
genres: Asian Literature, Historical, Childrens, Asia, Young Adult, War, Middle Grade, School, Historical Fiction, Fiction
ratings_count: 2495
places: North Korea, South Korea, Korea
series: Year of Impossible Goodbyes
awards: awardedAt: 725875200000
name: Vermont Golden Dome Book Award, awardedAt: 694252800000
name: Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature
publisher: Yearling