Park Young Ju

Park Young Ju is the narrator of the story. The novel begins with Young Ju as a baby playing in the ocean with her father. The plot of the story follows Young Ju from childhood into adulthood as she immigrates from Korea to America with her family. Young Ju struggles to integrate into a new culture and learn a new language when she begins school. When she comes home from school, she is expected to teach her parents what she has learned. In her first days of school, she recognizes that she only knows a few English words, but she resolves to learn them all. By high school, Young Ju has the highest GPA in her class, and she earns a full scholarship to college.

After immigrating to America, Young Ju's parents welcome a new baby into the family. The first son and pride of the...