The Name Jar

Title: The Name Jar

Author: Yangsook Choi

Genre: Multicultural

Summary: Unhei was on the bus on the way to her first day of a new school. Unhei thought about when she left her grandmother in Korea at the airport. Her grandmother gave her a red pouch with an ink pad and she said it had her name in it. On the bus, some kids were friendly to Unhei and asked if this was a new school for her. They asked what her name was. Her teacher, Mr. Cocotos, introduced her to her new class. Unhei didn’t want to tell the class her name because on the bus, nobody could pronounce it and she didn’t want that to happen again. She simply told the class that she hadn’t picked out a name yet and she would let them know when she did. When she got home, Unhei didn’t really want to talk much about her first day at school. She explained to her mother that she was different and that the kids didn’t know how to pronounce her name. Later, Unhei and her mother went grocery shopping. They got to Kim’s Market and the sign was in both English and Korean. Her mom bought things that they used to eat in Korea because she said that just because they had moved, doesn’t mean they need to forget about their culture. Mr. Kim, who worked at the grocery store, spoke to Unhei. That night, Unhei tried to think of new names for her, even though everyone told her that her name was beautiful. It meant grace. The next day at school, Unhei found a glass jar on her desk at school with pieces of paper in it. Each piece had a different name on it. They were from her class, and they wanted to help her pick out a name. A boy with curly hair was nice to Unhei; his name was Joey. Unhei showed Joey her name stamp that her grandmother had given to her. Joey thought it was so cool and wanted to keep the paper. They walked to the school bus together, sharing an umbrella. Each day, a few new names were put into the jar. When Unhei got home from school that day, her little brother ran to her with a letter for her from her grandmother. The letter said that she hopes Unhei was enjoying her new school. On Saturday, Unhei went to Mr. Kim’s store. Mr. Kim was helping a customer, and it was Joey! Joey heard Unhei say her name. On Monday, Unhei went to class early to look at all of the names one more time, but the jar was not on her desk. She didn’t know where it was. As the other students arrived, they helped her look. When Mr. Cocotos came in, Unhei said she was ready to announce her name. She wrote her name on the board, and showed the Korean symbols as well. She told the class that her name means grace. The kids began to say it better and by the end of the day, Unhei’s friends were saying goodbye to her. When Unhei went home, her mother said that her friend was waiting for her. It was Joey. He had the name jar! He told Unhei that he took the jar because he didn’t want Unhei to pick a name other than her own, and she didn’t! Joey said that Unhei should help pick out Korean names for her friends, and she agreed. Joey said that Mr. Kim had already helped him. Out of his pocket, he took a small silver felt pouch out and took a wooden stamp with Korean characters on it. He pressed it on the ink pad and then on the paper next to her name. Joey’s Korean name was Chinku, which means friend.

Characters: Unhei, Unhei’s grandmother, Unhei’s mother, Mr. Kim, Joey, Marco, Rosie, Ralph, Unhei’s brother,

Plot: Unhei was nervous that her friends would make fun of her because she is from Korea and her name is “different” from everyone else’s. She tries coming up with a new name, but her friend, Joey, helps her stick with her real name by choosing a Korean nickname for himself.

Theme: diversity, multicultural, friendship

Setting: Unhei’s school

Opinion: I really enjoyed reading this book. It was touching how much of an impact someone could have on someone else. It just shows you that a friendship could go a million miles. Joey helped Unhei stick with her own name, and she helped her realize that just because her name was different and that she was from Korea, that didn’t mean that she couldn’t be like everyone else just with having a different name.