Rating: 
Summary: Publisher Short-changes the Audience
Review: Tribute is due Linda Sue Park for A Single Shard; criticism to her publisher. Park takes readers to an unfamiliar time and cultural setting with an engrossing motif of 12 century celadon ceramic ware. Her prose is spare yet made most appealing and rich with meticulous wording. All the conventions that make for quality historical fiction for children are observed. The protagonist experiences conflict and finds appreciation of worthy values didactically embedded in cultural proverb. An afterward assists with historical context and explanation. In chapters 6 - 8, Park stretches the limit of her youthful audience with her penchant for precise language; for example: "lugubrious, commiserate, demise, harangued, feigned." The solution is simple--acknowledge it and insert a glossary. Allow children the opportunity to appreciate word choice instead of to avoid it. Finally, now that the book has earned eternal acclaim from the Newberry, the publisher can easily afford to supplement future editions which would feature photographic plates depicting this extraordinary ceramic ware for the concrete minds of its child audience. Even pictures of peonies and chrysanthimums would be helpful; not to mention a map of the Korean peninsula highlighting the setting! To ignore these aids for children is to diminish the potential for an extraordinary learning experience through this masterful piece of writing. As a teacher, I will continue to have trouble enticing students to read it. It will go largely unused and gather dust.
Rating: 
Summary: Shards of a Review
Review: In this book, the main character is Tree-ear. Tree-ear lives under a bridge with his best friend Crane-man. Since they are poor, they have to search for food. On one of Crane-man journeys to find food, he finds a potter. The potters name is Min.
Tree-ear often comes to watch Min doing his work. On day when he comes Min is not there, so Tree-ear goes in Min's home and starts to look at his work. While looking at his work, he breaks a piece. Min comes home and sees that Tree-ear has broken his work. Tree-ear wants to pay Min back, so he begins to work for Min. Tree-ear wants to make pots, but he won't be allowed to, because it is passed on from father to son, and Tree-ear isn't Min's son.
Tree-ear and Min hear that the royal emissary will be visiting soon to hand out royal commissions. Royal commissions are when a potter is assigned to work for the royal court. When the royal emissary comes he admires Min's amazing work, but he also notices the new technique that another potter, Kang, is using. In the end Kang gets a semi-royal commission, this means he will only work for the royal court for a short time, to see if they like his work. Before the royal emissary leaves, he comes to Min and says if he can come to him using Kangs amazing new technique, than he will receive a royal commission. Min doesn't think he can make such a journey, but Tree-ear offers to go for him.
When he makes it to the royal court, Min is assigned a royal commission. In addition, when he returns back to Min he is allowed to make pots.
I would recommend this book, because there is always something happening which makes it a very exciting book to read. I would recommend it to anyone who might want to read it, because it is interesting, and a very good read.
Rating:
Summary: a Single Shard
Review: A single shard is a story about a poor boy named tree-ear who lives with a good friend, Cran-man. he helps a potter named Min make two beatiful vases. Then he set off on the journey to deliver the vases to the king.this book takes you back in time to a important part of history.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Place; Another Time
Review: A short time ago I wrote about how I find the Booker Prize to be one of the few awards that consistently recognizes truly excellent books. The other award that I think does as well is the Newbery Medal. As always, there is varying quality even among the winners of this award but I found this book to be one of the best of the best. First of all, I always appreciate books that take me to places I've never been. Certainly, this story of twelfth century Korea does that. Additionally, it describes various processes of pottery-making, something else with which I was not very familiar. Most importantly, however, this is a story filled with wonderful characters. Tree-ear is an orphan who lives beneath a bridge with an old man named Crane-man. Slowly, Tree-ear works his way into the family of a master potter, Min & his wife, by doing work which the old potter now finds difficult. Ultimately, Tree-ear is sent on a long journey to the capital with a sample of Min's work to obtain a royal commission but, when the samples are destroyed along the way, he can only take a shard of the former pottery to the commissioner. This is a beautiful story which is well worth reading--and that includes any "adults" who might be reading this. Remember, if you can't read a "children's book" and enjoy it, then your child should probably not be reading it either.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book for children and adults
Review: I have two adopted Korean children and bought this book the minute I heard it won the Newberry. I read it in one sitting and absolutely loved it--wonderful characters, beautifully written, genuine emotion. It is so much better than some of the absolute dreck (see my review of "The Triumph of Katie Byrne," for example), that passes for adult fiction these days. My husband read it to my daughter's fourth grade class and the kids loved it as well. I warned my husband that he would cry at the end (I did). This is such a terrific book that I bought all of the author's books and am looking forward to reading them as well.
Rating:
Summary: A most wonderful book
Review: Linda Sue Park's A Single Shard is a delight every step of the way. Linda combines a solid base in history with a gripping story. Highly recommended. Great for parents to read with you!
Rating:
Summary: The triumph of merit over tradition
Review: As a second-generation Korean-American, I am grateful to Linda Sue Park for her portraits of historical Korea. I think when most Westerners think of Korea- or most other countries in East Asia- there is at best a tinge of tragedy in their assumptions. Due to the Confucian tradition extant in many countries, it is true that one's family was a strong factor in how much one could achieve in life. The same, of course, can also be said of many European countries at varying times, but Asian countries tend to be viewed through a dimmer lens. As Park points out, homelessness was a rarity in Korea until very recently, but it did exist. It is also true that the prejudices against the homeless were cruel, and the same is true today in Korea (and the United States). Tree-Ear, though poor, homeless, hungry and young, is also very ethical. Although his foster-father Crane-Man is crippled and homeless, he has adhered to the traditional code of honor and instilled it into Tree-Ear. Thus the two are allowed to scavenge through rubbish heaps, but not to steal, beg or otherwise take advantage of others. This rule extends even to ideas and forms the basis of one of Tree-Ear's dilemnas in the middle of the book. Tree-Ear is also a very hard worker- in fact, while he manages to get by scavenging, he craves hard work. When the potter Min gives him an opportunity to work off a debt and then to work as a helper (but not quite an apprentice), Tree-Ear is ecstatic. He enjoys the routine and the feeling of accomplishment he achieves through hard work. However, his ultimate goal is to become a potter like Min. Through his dedication and hard work, he ultimately gives Min a reason to see past tradition, prejudice and heart ache. Clearly, I loved the story. While it may be more of a fairy tale than a historical portrait, Park very cleverly uses references to famous works of celadon pottery. The one she describes at the end of Tree-Ear's story brought tears to my eyes- you'll have to read it to understand why. Highly recommended for children and adults.
Rating:
Summary: Five stars with a note...
Review: This book is excellent, no doubt. The writing, the descriptions, the characters are all wonderful....for a much older reader, close to adult age. This was part of my twelve-year-old's reading list for his gifted class at school. Nearly the entire class could not get through the book, not because it was difficult to read, but because they found it tedious to read so many long passages, and, to them, dull descriptions of a time period and skill that did not entice many. The teachers and parents loved it, but I'm not sure it entertains the 9-12 year old set. Also, dialog was very limited which automatically turns off a 9-12 reader. It deserves five stars, but don't be surprised if they come from the adult readers.
Rating:
Summary: Personal Sacrifice for Art
Review: Once again Park has recreated medieval Korea with deft strokes of her literary brush--transporting us effortlessly into an era where we are strangers to the customs and culture of the protagonist. Yet we quickly recognize traits basic to mankind: pride in honest effort, appreciation of artistic merit, loyalty
to friends, gratitude for kindness, the need for charity and the value of wisdom to handle life's problems. The story starts slowly, progressing with little conflict, until the King's pottery emissary arrives in the small coastal village of Ch'ulp'o. Unlike western Young Adult books which prize action, this tale demonstrates mental activity and spiritual growth--while placing a premium on patience to achieve artistic excellence. Orphaned Tree Ear lives under a bridge with his wise but elderly friend, Crane Man. His goal is to fashion beautiful ceramic ware on a potter's wheel, like that of
the dour master potter, Min. Embittered by the loss of his only son, the crusty artist refuses to teach anyone--merely using his apprentice for menial tasks in his grimly silent world of private competition. Then his rival invents a new glazing technique; so which village master will receive a royal commission? This is a tale of loyalty and devotion, of commitment to ideas and noble purpose; a story for thoughtful readers of all ages, who understand that there are times when compromise in art is simply unacceptable.
Rating:
Summary: DIFFERENT
Review: A predictable plotline with a satisfying conclusion. One slightly violent event spurs the main character on to action.
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