SEESAW GIRL
by Linda Sue Park

1. Bibliography:
Park, Linda Sue. SEESAW GIRL. 1990. New York: Four Winds Press. ISBN 027868109

Linda Sue Park was born in Urbana, Illinois on March 25, 1960, and grew up outside Chicago. The daughter of Korean immigrants, she has been writing poems and stories since she was four years old, and her favorite thing to do as a child was read.

http://www.lspark.com/

Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng came to the United States from Taiwan and have illustrated many children’s books.


2. Plot Summary
SEESAW GIRL is historical fiction chapter book that tells of a Jade Blossom who is a young girl age twelve who lives with her wealthy family and relatives within the inner walls of their home and courtyard. The walls are too high for those inside to see anything that is outside of the walls. The setting is 17th Century in Korea and this young Korean girl is forced to stay within the walls and do the daily chores that women and girls are expected to do so they may one day marry and live within the inner walls of their husband’s home along with his family. Jade is curious of life outside the walls and is determined to see her young aunt Willow who was her best friend and playmate until she marries and moves to her husband’s home. Jade goes beyond the walls by sneaking out and hiding in a basket on a cart that is being sent to market. Traveling to Willow’s house, she sees the Dutchmen who are prisoners because they have landed in Korea. Jade continues to her aunt Willow’s house, she refuses to see Jade as it will be disrespectful to her new family so she sends her away. The outside world surrounds Jade and she is able to view the beautiful mountains where the men travel to pay respect to the Ancestors. She also encounters women and girls who are out in public because they are poor and must work. Jade is sad and confused because Willow refuses to see her. She walks back to the cart at the market to go home and the worker who is driving the cart is shocked and immediately covers her face to take her home. This will make it impossible for the people to see her face. This man is fired because of Jade’s plan to see her aunt.
Returning home, her mother and father are disappointed with her actions. She understands that it is best for her to stay in the Inner Circle. It is now time for Jade to create her first panel with an embroidery scene. She chooses to do the beautiful mountains but is unable to remember them. Her brother tries to help her with art pictures of the mountains and she attempts to sneak the paint and re-create the mountains on paper to see while she is embroidering.
Jade has an idea and creates the seesaw. She agrees to give her cousin a ball that was a gift from her father if the boy would help her by jumping on the end of the board to bounce her up on the other end of the board. This idea helped Jade to see the mountains so she could create her panel. Jade learned that she should be satisfied living within the Inner Circle of her home while abiding by her cultures and traditions.


3. Critical Analysis
The book received the Texas Bluebonnet Award for 2001-02. The book is well written and easy to read with Korean words included in the text to depict the culture being presented in the book. The writing is clear and exciting as the young girl explores areas outside of the walls that are off limits to young Korean girls and women who are wealthy. The text is vague on describing many of its characters including those who live with Jade. The clothing and setting are also limited in description that would give the reader a mental note of the people and their surroundings. The book is written for children ages 4 - 8 but I would recommend it for older children through young adult. Children will have the opportunity to see the world from a different point of view and the Korean cultures of the time and the restrictions of the culture.

The book provides a table of contents and a bibliography. The author’s notes provide the historical information of this time and makes the reader aware of the Dutch explorers who became prisoner’s who would possibly be put to death for entering Korea. This was a time during the sixteenth century in Korea when they were following a policy of isolationism. This extended for nearly three hundred years with contact being was maintained only with China and, at times with Japan. Korea was named “The Hermit Kingdom”.

Information is also provided by the author of the seesaw that was used as a game for children. They would play on the seesaw by standing and jumping on it raising one in the air while the other went down. The seesaw was used in Korea for hundreds of years before WWII.

The illustrations are black and white paintings that are wonderfully created to give the reader a visual image of the story’s setting and the historical time of the story. This chapter book has limited illustrations but each flows well with the text it is describing.


The text is well written and helps the reader understand the Korean culture and traditions. It is very evident that the girls and women of the inner wall were expected to tend to the chores and household while not being seen by the outside world. The men worked to provide for the family, traveled to market and were educated. Women who married and moved to their spouse’s home within his inner wall were no longer part of their family but became part of their spouse’s family and his relatives. The reader connects with the young girl as she plots her practical jokes on the young boys. Jade and Willow covered the boy's art brushes with soot as a joke and this soot was all over the boys including their clothes. The girls had a good laugh but “The next day, however, the laundry was no laughing matter. The boys’ soot-soiled clothing all had to be laundered. . . Jade and Willow were ordered to help.” To launder the clothes, they were ripped apart to be flat, laundered, the wrinkles were beaten out with a stick and then the clothes were re-sewn.

4. Review Excerpts

From Publishers Weekly
This first novel set in 17th-century Korea centers on 12-year-old Jade Blossom, daughter of one of the king's advisers. With all the temerity of a 1990s girl, Jade plays tricks on her brother (with the help of her cousin Willow), and her yearning to see the world outside of her family's walled household ultimately leads her into trouble. She conceals herself in a basket on market day and catches her first glimpse of the mountains as well as a group of imprisoned Dutch sailors, whom she describes as wearing what looks like "yellow or brown sheep's wool on their cheeks and chins." Park manages to get across many of society's restrictions on girls and women, but often relies on telling rather than showing. For example, Jade says how much her view of the mountains affects her, yet she never describes what it is about the vista that moves her. Readers gain little insight into Jade's relationship with other members of her household or her daily routine. Though the novel glosses over the meaning of the Dutch sailors' appearance, a closing author's note helps to put it into context. Fortunately, Jean and Mou-sien Tseng's animated black-and-white drawings fill in many details missing in the text concerning dress and setting. Ages 8-12. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6-Life in 17th-century Korea is not easy for a girl, even for the daughter of a wealthy family. Jade Blossom must learn to do the laundry, sew the clothes back together after each washing, help in the kitchen, and embroider flawlessly. Her world is circumscribed by the walls of the Inner Court where she will spend her life until she marries and then will be confined to the Inner Court of her husband's household. However, when her aunt and best friend since childhood gets married, Jade is determined to see her again. Park maintains a fine tension between the spirited girl's curiosity and her very limited sphere. Certainly Jade looks for opportunities to expand her horizons, but after her first disastrous foray to see Willow, she learns that those chances have to come within the walls of her own home. The story is full of lively action and vivid descriptions, enhanced by appealing black-and-white paintings, to give a clear sense of the period and reveal the world as Jade sees it. Even the minor characters have substance. The girl's parents are understanding but not indulgent. Her father is a thoughtful man, distant from the family, but looking at the possibilities for the future of his country. Her mother recognizes Jade's longings and shows her that it is possible to be content with her life. Like Jade's stand-up seesaw, Park's novel offers readers a brief but enticing glimpse at another time and place.
Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


Connections: Read the story to the children, a few chapters at a time. Discuss the cultures of the classroom and compare them to the cultures within the book. Openly discuss the actions and consequences of Jade and the Dutchmen. Seek out additional books that discuss the Korean cultures of today and compare these to the book.

Additional works by Linda Sue Park include:
WHEN MY NAME WAS KEOKO
THE FIREKEEPER’S SON
A SINGLE SHARD