SISTER ACT

 

- Frances Park and Ginger Park are sisters who have written several books for adults and children. The award-winning authors grew up in Virginia and now live in Washington, D.C., where they also own a boutique called Chocolate Chocolate. 

- Books: My Freedom Trip (Boyd Mills Press, 1998), The Royal Bee (Boyd Mills Press, 2000), When My Sister Was Cleopatra Moon (Miramax Books, 2001), Where on Earth is My Bagel? (Lee and Low Books, 2001), To Swim Across the World (Miramax Books, 2002), Good-bye, 382 Shin Dang Dong (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2002), The Have a Good Day Café (Lee and Low Books, 2005)

- The Have a Good Day Café is about a working-class Korean American family that survives on the meager earnings of a fast food cart. When the boy’s grandmother can’t stop thinking about the food from the motherland, they think of a great way to revamp the cart’s culinary offerings. “In the kitchen Grandma opens the refrigerator,” writes the Parks. “She takes out a big piece of beef, two heads of cabbage, and all the carrots and zucchini she can find.” (Ages 5-9)

- Sarah Says: “Though they are co-authors, they actually work separately. One of them will sit down and start writing, and then the other one will either revise or continue writing the story.”

 

HISTORY BUFF

 

- Linda Sue Park, a Newbery Medalist, is a giant in children’s literature. She was born in Illinois and grew up near Chicago. As a child, she won several poetry competitions and was first published at age 9. After studying English at Stanford, Park worked as a public relations writer, journalist and teacher. She now lives in upstate New York with her husband and two kids.

- Books: Seesaw Girl (1999), The Kite Fighters (2000), A Single Shard (2001), When My Name Was Keoko (2002), The Firekeeper’s Son (Clarion Books, 2004), Mung-Mung: A Fold-out Book of Animal Sounds (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2004), Bee-bim Bop (Clarion Books, 2005), Yum! Yuck! A Fold-out Book of People Sounds (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2005), What Does Bunny See: A Book of Colors and Flowers (Clarion Books, 2005), Archer’s Quest (Clarion Books, 2006), Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems) (Clarion Books, 2007), Project Mulberry (Yearling, 2007)

- The Firekeeper’s Son is about a fire signal system used in 19th-century Korea to warn the king of invasions by sea. A boy’s father climbs the mountain near their village every evening to light a fire, which signals to the next firekeeper that all is well in the land. “He picked up one coal with the tongs — and dropped it,” writes Park. “It broke into a hundred red jewels that glowed for a moment, then died.” (Ages 5-8)

- Sarah Says: “Linda Sue Park fills a very important gap in providing well-researched Korean history to contemporary children’s audiences.”