Cooper's Lesson book review

Shin, Y. S. (2004) Cooper's lesson. San Francisco, CA: Children's Book Press.

The book Cooper's Lesson is about a Korean boy living in American with his Korean mom and American dad. The book starts with Cooper's mom asking him to pick up some ginger from the store. Cooper talks about how he does not like going to the market because his mom insists on speaking Korean and he does not know Korean fluently so he is uncomfortable. He talks about his skin color and how he is half and half which can lead to being teased. When he reaches the store he is uncomfortable but starts to walk through the aisles. He ends up stealing a brush because he thinks the store owner is laughing at him. When caught he has to work at the store for the week as his punishment. Throughout the week he learns more Korean and becomes comfortable at the store. He learns that Mr. Lee the store owner is Korean American, like him, and Cooper explains that he never knows where hes from. Eventually his mom comes in and invites Mr. Lee to dinner. While on the walk home he talks to his mom in Korean telling her that he doesn't know how to explain in Korean. She tells him that they can work it out together.

After reading this book I think that it is a piece of diverse literature. I think that it shows how hard life can be for a Korean American or anyone who is born here but looks "different" than the average American. The book also shows how people overcome that issue, they work to include both cultures into their life. Yes they will always be different but that does not mean that it is wrong. A really cool thing about this book is that it is written in English and Korean so it encourages children who are Korean to read Korean words. I liked this book, it showed no stereotypes about gender or race, just issues that people can face everyday.