Good-Bye, 382 Shin Dang Dong by Frances Park and Ginger Park

Illustrated by Yangsook Choi.32 p., National Geographic Society, 2002. It's hard to say goodbye when you move to another country. Jangmi doesn't want to move from Korea to the United States. She'll miss her best friend, Kisuni, and her home. Even the seasons and the food will be different. Her parents describe their new house and other things about America, and reassure her that she'll make new friends, but Jangmi still doesn't want to go. On their last day, friends and relatives come for a goodbye lunch, and Jangmi wants to keep these moments with her forever. She talks with Kisuni about how when one is awake, the other will be sleeping. We see that she's beginning to adjust when Kisuni comments, "'At least we'll always know what the other one is doing.'" As the family rides to the airport, Jangmi cries. She says goodbye to her old house many times. Her parents offer her the possibility of adopting Rose (the translation of Jangmi) as her American name, but Jangmi decides to keep her name exactly as it is. When the family finally arrives at their new home in Massachusetts, everything looks strange to Jangmi, yet it's all as her parents have described. Soon after the movers come, neighbors arrive, bringing food. Among them is Mary, who is Jangmi's age, and becomes her first friend in America. Jangmi is able to see that Mary is like Kisuni in some ways. As the story ends, Jangmi is writing to Kisuni, knowing that she is sleeping at that moment, and knowing the world that she lives in. Based on an event in the life of the authors' older sister, this story is illustrated with glowing, expressive oil paintings. It offers empathy and hope to children facing a move to another country. Ages 4-8