So Far from the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Kawashima Watkins

Although she is Japanese, eleven-year-old Yoko Kawashima has lived all her life in Korea. So Far from the Bamboo Grove follows the experiences of young Yoko as World War II comes to an end and Korea is engulfed in turmoil as Koreans revolt to take back their homeland. Yoko and her family are forced to leave their tranquil home in Korea and to flee back to Japan in this story of heartbreak, cruelty, survival, and courage.

Related Readings

"Evacuation and Internment During World War II"—history by Craig Gingold

"Life in the Camps"—history by Pam Deyell Gingold

"North and South Korea United in Love of Kimchee"—radio transcript from NPR's Weekend Edition

from Japan—description of everyday life by Lucy Birmingham

"Former Yugoslavia: Healing Mental Wounds"—Web site for UNICEF

from I dream of peace: Images of war by children of former Yugoslavia—poems

from Where the River Runs: A Portrait of a Refugee Family—biography by Nancy Price Graff

Study Guide (PDF)