Title: A Single Shard
Author: Linda Sue Park
Publisher: http://www.randomhouse.com
Awards: John Newberry Medal, ALA Notable Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, A Booklist Editors’ Choice of the Year
Publication Date: 2001
Genre: Young Adult
Audience: Gr. 6+

Overview: A Single Shard is a coming of age story of courage, compassion and honor. This Newberry Award winning book takes a young orphan boy through a dangerous adventure set in a small pottery village in Korea, during the twelfth century. Linda Sue Park masterfully transports the reader to a moment in time when the life of a boy is transformed by accidentally breaking a pot that belonged to the local master potter, Min. Becoming Min’s assistant to pay for the broken pottery, Tree-ear begins a journey which will change his life forever.

Activity: Have students make their own pots. While making their pots they can put themselves into the story by exploring a list of what if situations: What if you broke something that didn’t belong to you? What if thieves approached you? Would you have gone home or travelled on to the palace? Let them come up with questions of their own for their fellow students.

Reviewer’s Name: Darby Hewes