The Hundred Choices Department Store Paperback – March 25, 2022

Author Ginger Park takes us through an emotional family journey from yesteryear. What it was like to live during oppressive times and how a family stays together and helps one another during the most difficult times. The book gives a message of survival and faith and love.The family own The Hundred Choices Department Store, a a wonderful business in North Korea that caters to wealthy Japanese. There's a war brewing and the main character heads south. A dangerous trip but the amazing journal of survival is inspiring and courageous. It's certainly a lesson for all of us here in the USA where our freedom is taken for granted. This is a book for all, adults and young people. It's a reminder how fragile our freedom is.

I just finished this newest offering from Ginger Park. This was a very beautifully written book! I really enjoyed the descriptions of everything in The Hundred Choices Department Store. I could see Miyooki trying on everything she talked about and it actually made me, someone who normally doesn't care much for such things, want to try them on myself. I also love Park's descriptions. Never too much or too flowery but just the right lyrical beauty to it. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes historical fiction, or is interested in Korean history, and anything WWII.

Don't let the young adult tag fool you. This book is an important read for adults too. Though set during mid last century, this story is timely today as well, what with the Putin invasion of Ukraine -- reminding us again that the phrase "history lesson" is an oxymoron . Each of Park's carefully selected words crackles like a warm fire on a winter's day.

This is a wonderful book for both adults and young people. Teachers, use this book to support your history unit!

A smart, voicey, engaging tale about family, war, & love. Ginger Park takes you into another world, one that will fascinate you & keep you turning pages--certainly one you'll remember for a long time.

...and it is well worth the trip. Many of us cannot relate to being subject to an invading force or even to being in a conflict zone. We have likely never known the deprivations of war. This is one young girl's story, but it is also representative of the experiences of millions of individuals, even today. The writing takes the reader into the story, where no one is perfect, but there is love and kindness and hope in the face of hardship and struggle. And if you don't believe in paying in forward, this story may just make you rethink that. Once I opened the cover, I didn't put this book down until I finished. It's a gem of a book.

** spoiler alert ** 1944. Sinuiju, Korea is occupied by Japan. Thirteen-year-old Miyook is Korean, but she attends a Japanese-controlled school, so she learns the Japanese language and history."Two worlds. Two identities. Yes, Japan occupied my country, but not my heart."Miyook's twin brothers, Hoon and Hwan, are another representation of duality. Miyook, Hwan, and Hwan's Japanese partner Dai own The Hundred Choices department store, but Hoon manages the store."Two brothers. Two worlds."Miyook lives in these two worlds but does everything she can to keep herself, her family, and her heart safe. When she's sent to work in the dye factory, though, she knows her body and her spirit are in danger. Miyook's family sends her away, to Sogha mountain, where she is safe from working for the war efforts.A Russian invasion, the burning of The Hundred Choices department store, and increased violence causes Apa to flee, but Oma, Miyook, Hwan, and Hoon remain in Sinuiju. . .until Miyook and her brothers are forced to leave the city and run for their lives.This lyrical book is written in a way that makes you feel as if Miyook is sitting across from you, telling you the story. At times, you want to laugh, reach over and squeeze Miyook's hand, or cry. Always, you want to eat noodle soup like Miyook and Hoon would. :)This story preserves some of Ginger Park's family history and allows readers to connect with a time they've never lived in and experiences they've never lived through. Miyook's story is one of perseverance, beauty, pain, and resilience. Child readers will see themselves in Miyook and will learn and grow from Miyook's story. What a beautiful gift Ginger Park has given the world.

An adventurous story with a unique perspective from the point of view of a young Korean girl and her family during wartimes; based upon the life experience of the author's mother who lived through it. The read pulls you into the contrasting expectations that others have based upon your ethnicity, age, sex, and status. It forces conformancy based upon who is in control at the time and with their values. The book describes the survivalistic means to keep out of the conflict of where you live, or are forced to live. After all, it isn't a wanted conflict and people just want to live a 'normal' life. The powers that be make this a challenge. It correlates to the plights that many people have had to endure during the numerous conflicts in the world over time. It is so relatable for many who have had to flee their home, leaving almost everything behind to seek refuge. It also finds space for those moments of enjoyment, even under bad circumstances. Not a silver lining, maybe just a bit of color in such gray times. Hope, memories, and experience; it is what people must live with for the rest of their lives. It isn't a loss of your home due to fire or natural disaster; it is a loss due to conflict. And while some of these are comparable, the devastation cuts to the bone when your very life hangs by a Gossamer Thread. I highly recommend reading this book! Written for all ages, especially children!