A Single Shard

Park, Linda Sue (2001). A Single Shard. New York, New York: Clarion Books.

Brief Annotation: Tree-Ear is a homeless orphan in 12th century Korea, who lives with his friend, the injured Crane-Man, under a bridge in a potter's village. Tree-Ear, who has long admired pottery and desperately wants to become a potter, takes a look at a ceramic box created by the master potter, Min, only to drop and break the pottery box when Min ambushes him. To pay for the broken box, Tree-Ear goes to work for Min, providing wood for the kiln and clay for the pottery wheel. To thank Tree-Ear, Min's wife provides food for both Tree-Ear and Crane-Man. One day, a royal emissary come to the village and admires Min's pots, but gives the royal commission to a lesser potter who came up with a new technique. Min is given one more chance to demonstrate his skill, if he can bring his pots to the palace, a journey of several weeks. Tree-Ear takes the journey for Min, and, despite tragedy and mishaps, secures a royal commission for Min, and a family and a future for himself.
Genre: Historical fiction
Grade Level: 4-7
Readers who will like this: Readers who like reading about different cultures. Readers who like reading about different historical periods. Readers who like tales of bravery and perseverance
Response/Rating (1-4): 3. The book is very interesting and enjoyable, but at times the description overwhelms the plot. Of course, this is somewhat necessary when you're describing a foreign culture and historical period, but it may make some readers want to give up reading this book.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: What would you do if you really wanted to learn something but would have to go through a long apprenticeship to achieve it?

Reading Strategies Connection: I would use internet investigations (Yopp & Yopp, p. 121-124) after reading this book with students. First, I would have students take a look at the Author's Note at the end of the book, where Linda Sue Park describes some of the research that she did to write the novel, and she describes some of the historical context of the novel. I would then ask students what questions they have about the novel, so that they can generate a list of search terms based on their questions. Then, I would have the students (in small groups) do their own research about 12th century Korean society and history, Korean geography (to chart Tree-Ear's journey to the capital city), and Korean pottery. The small groups would then share their findings with the class. This strategy would work well with this book because the book has so much historical, cultural and geographical detail. The students would benefit from finding out even more about the society described in the book.