Linda Sue Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Linda Sue Park
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Linda Sue Park at the 2014 Texas Book Festival.
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| Born | March 25, 1960 Urbana, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Education | Stanford University (BA) University of London (MA) |
| Genre | Young adult fiction, poetry |
| Notable awards | Newbery Medal 2002 |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul |
박명진
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| RR | Bak Myeongjin |
| MR | Pak Myŏngjin |
Linda Sue Park (born March 25, 1960) is a talented Korean-American author. She is famous for writing many books for children and young adults. Her first novel, Seesaw Girl, came out in 1999.
Linda Sue Park has written several children's novels and picture books. She won the important 2002 Newbery Medal for her novel A Single Shard. This award is given to the best children's book published in the United States. She also wrote Storm Warning, which is the ninth book in The 39 Clues series. It was published on May 25, 2010.
Contents
About Linda Sue Park's Life
Linda Sue Park was born on March 25, 1960, in Urbana, Illinois. She grew up near Chicago. Her parents moved to the United States in the 1950s to study.
Linda Sue Park started writing very early. She wrote poems and stories when she was only four years old. Her first poem was published in Trailblazer magazine when she was nine. She kept publishing poems in magazines throughout elementary and high school. Her first book, Seesaw Girl, was published in 1999.
Education and Early Jobs
Park was a gymnast at Stanford University. She earned a degree in English there. She also studied literature in Ireland at Trinity College. Later, she received another degree from the University of London.
Before becoming a full-time author, Park had many different jobs. She worked in public relations for a big oil company. She also wrote about food for British magazines and newspapers. In addition, she taught English to college students who were learning it as a second language.
Today, Linda Sue Park lives with her family in Rochester, New York.
Stories and Themes in Her Books
Linda Sue Park is well-known for her historical fiction. This means her stories are set in the past. Most of her books focus on Korean history and Korean culture.
Exploring Korean History
Her first three novels take place in ancient or medieval Korea. For example, When My Name Was Keoko is about the Japanese occupation of Korea during World War II. This shows a more recent part of Korean history.
Park does a lot of research for her books about Korea. She includes many historical details in her stories. She also adds notes for readers and lists of books she used for her research.
Korean Culture in Her Stories
Park's books often feature special parts of Korean culture. These include:
- Embroidery in Seesaw Girl
- Kite fighting in The Kite Fighters
- Celadon pottery in A Single Shard
- Silkworms in Project Mulberry
- Korean food in Bee-Bim Bop
- Archery in Archer’s Quest
Other Interesting Stories
Not all of Park's books are about Korean history. Project Mulberry is set in modern times near Chicago. Archer’s Quest brings a historical person into the present day. In Keeping Score, Park shares her love for baseball.
Her book A Long Walk to Water tells two stories. One is about Salva Dut, a real person who grew up in Sudan. The other is about a character named Nya, who spends her days getting water for her family.
Linda Sue Park also continues to write and publish poetry.
Linda Sue Park's Books
Novels for Young Readers
- Seesaw Girl (1999)
- The Kite Fighters (2000)
- This book was chosen by the Junior Library Guild.
- A Single Shard (2001)
- Won the Newbery Medal in 2002.
- When My Name Was Keoko (2002)
- Project Mulberry (2005)
- Archer's Quest (2006)
- Click: One novel ten authors, chapter one (2007)
- Keeping Score (2008)
- Storm Warning (2010), part of The 39 Clues series
- A Long Walk to Water (2010)
- The Chronicles of Harris Burdick (The Harp, 2011), she contributed to this book.
- Trust No One (2012), part of The 39 Clues series
- Forest of Wonders (2016), first book in the Wing and Claw trilogy
- Cavern of Secrets (2017), second book in the Wing and Claw trilogy
- Beast of Stone (2018), third book in the Wing and Claw trilogy
- Prairie Lotus (2020)
Picture Books for Younger Children
- Mung-Mung: A Foldout Book of Animal Sounds (2004)
- The Firekeeper's Son (2004)
- Yum! Yuck! A Foldout Book of People Sounds From Around the World (2005), co-written with Julia Durango
- Bee-bim Bop (2005)
- What Does Bunny See? A Book of Colors and Flowers (2005)
- Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo Poems (2007)
- The Third Gift (2011)
- Xander's Panda Party (2013)
- Yaks Yak: Animal Word Pairs (2016)
Poetry Collections
Linda Sue Park's poems have appeared in various magazines and reviews, including:
- "On Meeting a Poet," "Changing the Sheets," "Mobius," "Fourth-Grade Science Project," in Avatar Review
- "Handstand", in Atlanta Review, Spring/Summer 2000
- "Seven Sins: Portrait of an Aristocratic Young Woman," "Irreversible Loyalty," "A Little World," "The Ramparts at Calvi," in The Alsop Review
- "Armchair Journey," "Hyphen," in Miller's Pond, Spring 2002
- "Picturing the Words," "When the Last Panda Died," "Tide Pool," in Avatar Review, Summer 2004
See also
In Spanish: Linda Sue Park para niños
