Park, Linda Sue. A SINGLE SHARD. New York: Clarion, 2001. ISBN 0395978270.
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Tree-ear has lived under a bridge with Crane-man for as long as he can remember, foraging for food from trash heaps and gathering rice left behind in fields after the harvest. Tree-ear and Crane-man are honorable, and believe in hard work. Tree-ear has become interested in the work of the master potter Min, hiding behind the leaves of a paulownia tree to watch the master create the beautiful celadon pieces prized by royalty and temples, until one day, Tree-ear accidentally damages one of Min’s pieces and begins to work off the debt by doing chores for Min. Hoping that this will lead to a time when Min will teach Tree-ear to throw pots on the wheel, Tree-ear works diligently for the short-tempered potter. After the debt is paid off, Tree-ear continues to work for Min, still hoping for that longed-for day when he, too, can learn to be a potter. Eighteen months later, still having not been allowed to work the potter’s wheel, Tree-ear volunteers to do a dangerous yet important job for Min with an unexpected outcome.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This novel won Linda Sue Park the Newbery Medal in 2002 for good reason. A beautiful story with a few twists and turns throughout, A Single Shard creates vivid pictures of the life of a young orphan boy and what it might have been like to be homeless in 12th century Korea at a time when virtually no one was homeless. “Have you eaten well today?” was the standard greeting among villagers. However, Tree-ear, and his guardian of the last 10 years Crane-man have turned the saying upside down, greeting each other with, “Have you hungered well today?” as their own little joke, for hunger is a constant companion for the pair. Tree-ear has happened upon a windfall of rice unexpectedly, and thus opens the story of this boy, who is perhaps twelve according to Crane-man’s estimations. Although the setting is foreign to young readers today, the descriptions are so vivid that readers can easily make mental pictures of the setting and the characters, as well as their daily activities as the village potters and their assistants prepare for the arrival of the royal emissary who will offer a commission to one of the lucky potters in the village.
The “Author’s Note” at the end of the novel explains several of the interesting points in the story, including the evolution of the role of potters in Korea, why the homelessness of Tree-ear and Crane-man would have been highly unusual in 12th century Korea, and even why Tree-ear may have had an irrational fear of foxes. The notes help provide the details of Park’s research that led to plot points and setting descriptions in the novel and are quite interesting.
Similar to Tracy Chevalier’s novel Girl with a Pearl Earring in which Chevalier creates a fictional account of how Vermeer’s painting of the same name came to be created, Park uses the famous "Thousand Cranes Vase, “the finest example of inlaid celadon pottery ever discovered [that] has been dated to the twelfth century,” and one of Korea’s most prized treasures, as the springboard for this novel. While the names of people, places, and artifacts may be difficult to pronounce, Park weaves the culture of 12th Century Korea seamlessly through the story in a way that is easy for the reader to follow. The only spot that gave me any trouble at all were the opening four paragraphs, which upon rereading twice, for a total of three times through, finally made sense. This worried me for the rest of the novel, causing me to believe I would not like it. That is unfortunate because this is one of the best stories I have ever read. I hope that the problems I encountered with the opening of the story were due to some reason specific to me, and not what other readers will experience. I would hate to think that a reader would not continue past the first page due to confusion surrounding the joke about the greetings with which the story begins.
While there is some predictability to the ending of the story, readers will nonetheless undoubtedly enjoy reading of Tree-ear’s experiences in this novel that covers approximately two years of his life, ending with a jump far into the future in the final paragraphs – a trip worth taking with him in this beautiful novel of determination and hope.
4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
*Publishers Weekly: “Park molds a moving tribute to perseverance and creativity in this finely etched novel set in mid- to late 12th-century Korea. . . . Readers will not soon forget these characters or their sacrifices.”
*Booklist: “This quiet, but involving story draws readers into a very different time and place. Though the society has its own conventions, the hearts and minds and stomachs of the characters are not so far removed from those of people today. Readers will feel the hunger and cold that Tree-ear experiences, as well as his shame, fear, gratitude, and love. A well-crafted novel with an unusual setting.”
*School Library Journal: “This quiet story is rich in the details of life in Korea during this period. In addition it gives a full picture of the painstaking process needed to produce celadon pottery. However, what truly stands out are the characters: the grumpy perfectionist Min; his kind wife; wise Crane-man; and most of all, Tree-ear, whose determination and lively intelligence result in good fortune. Like Park's Seesaw Girl (1999) and The Kite Fighters (2000, both Clarion), this book not only gives readers insight into an unfamiliar time and place, but it is also a great story.”
5. CONNECTIONS
• Go to this website to see examples of pottery that Linda Sue Park based her descriptions on. The pictures are fascinating, particularly after having read the book. http://www.lindasuepark.com/books/singleshard/singleshardbs.html
• This feature from the Metropolitan Museum of Art allows readers to interactively explore Korean ceramics with questions and pictures. Also on the opening page, readers can click on “Arts of Korea” in the text, then click on “Ceramics” and finally on any of the three pots under “Koryo Dynasty” to see further examples of the celadon pottery created by the masters of the 12th and 13th centuries. http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/celadon/html/startpage.htm
• In the “faq” section of her webpage, Park gives an address where readers can write, and if they include a self addressed, stamped envelope, she says she will write back and send an autograph! Have students write her a letter, including a return envelope, and see what happens. http://www.lspark.com/index.html
• Have students rewrite a scene from the book from one of the other character’s point of view – Min, Min’s wife, or Crane-man.
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