Chairman Mao said, "Women hold up half the sky." For Li Hui, a recent university graduate, that means following her dream of becoming a teacher, finding love and fulfilling her family obligations. But her father's debts and demands for an arranged marriage will soon pull her away from everything she truly desires . . . and Li Hui is forced to make her own place in the changing cultural landscape of modern China. Read what reviewers have written about MY HALF OF THE SKY: "Your heart will tear apart right along with Li Hui's as she struggles to 'hold up her half of the sky' . . . This is a powerful coming of age story." --Keri Holmes, The Kaleidoscope "You'll be rooting all the way for Li Hui as she struggles, ahead of the curve, to be her own woman in an emerging, modern China. Jana McBurney-Lin's MY HALF OF THE SKY is a beautiful, witty, touching debut novel." --Thomas Sawyer, Head Writer, "Murder She Wrote" "Jana McBurney-Lin uses words and nuance and simplicity to create rich characters and settings so vivid it feels like you are watching a classic film." --Jackie Houchin, The Foothills Paper

My Half of the Sky

Literature & Fiction

McBurney-Lin, Jana

Contemporary

Komenar Pub

Hi-Dong Chai and Jana McBurney-Lin, the award-winning author of My Half of the Sky, turn their hands to a remarkable story of a family and country torn apart by outside forces. The time is 1942, the place, Japanese-occupied Seoul, Korea. Fifteen-year-old He-Seung is full of fire, ready to take on these Japanese...if only he could convince his father, a Christian minister more concerned about saving his flock in a time when Emperor-worship has become mandatory. Since occupation, the Japanese have eradicated the Korean language, names, even the country's flower. Now they are seeking Korean boys as volunteers for their army. When his father is arrested by the Japanese, however, He-Seung must swallow his hatred of the enemy and volunteer for the military. Even harder, he must leave his mother and baby brother He-Dong to fend for themselves. Based on a true story, Blossoms &amp; Bayonets is suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period. The story lends an eyewitness perspective to events as they unfold. revealing an era of nuance and complexity. The result is a work that speaks volumes about the power of faith. "McBurney-Lin crafts...an engaging and entertaining read from beginning to end." --Midwest Book Review "Impossible to put down-or to forget-authors' grippingly suspenseful and deeply affecting historical novel limns the lives of a Korean family under Japanese rule with astonishing grace and power." --Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You "Riveting internal dialogue and narration interspersed with quotes from those running the war efforts on various fronts combine to compel the reader forward. I say compel rather than propel, because I had to read. I had to know how this family and those around them would fare in the end."-Keri Rojas, bookseller at Cornerstone Cottage, Hampton, IA.

Blossoms and Bayonets: A Story of Love, Faith and Courage Under Japanese Occupation

History

Chai, Hi-Dong

Asia

Redwood Publishing

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