Haemi Balgassi

Yet another story of an Asian youth trying to fit into American society. Korean-born Tae is horrified to be paired with popular Josh Morgan to work on a class report on South Korea. She also has a falling out with her best friend Meg, ends up befriending class outcast Jody, struggles in PE class and has to put up with the snobbish attitude of Krista, a girl set on snagging Josh. Her parents Oppa and Umma run a Korean grocery and have their own challenges in American society and the local Korean community.… (meer)

Summary:
Peacebound Trains is the story of a young Korean girl who lives with her grandmother. The little girl loves to sit and watch the trains go by her home. She is having a hard time dealing with her mother being gone in the army. Her grandmother notices how upset she is and decides to tell her the story of how her family came to the United States from Korea. While hearing the story of her ancestors the little girl begins to see just how lucky she is and decides to dwell on the future and not the present.
Personal Reaction:
This is a very touching story. I loved the way the relationship between the grandmother and young girl was written. The illustrations were also very beautiful.
Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. After reading this book to my class I would have an assignment for my students. The class would go home for the weekend and find out something about their families' heritage. They would then write a short essay over what they learned and present the information to the class on Monday.

2. After reading each chapter of the book to my class I would write a variation of sentences from the chapter on the board. Then the class would participate together and point out the grammatical parts of the sentence.… (meer)