Story Review of My Name Is Yoon

Character: Yoon, Yoon’s Father, Yoon’s Mother, Yoon’s teacher, the ponytail girl

Setting: Yoon’s Home, Yoon’s new school

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Perspective: First-person viewpoint

Plot: Yoon doesn’t like her English name and America. She wants to go back to Korea.

My Name Is Yoon is written by Helen Recorvits and illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. It tells about a young girl named Yoon who moves to the USA from Korea with her family. Yoon doesn’t like America and her English name. But at last, she loved America and found her place in this new country after she did her best to make an effort.

First, I learned that new immigrants need time to adapt to new places, including culture, language, education, food, etc. There have many differences between where new immigrants are born and the new country. In the story, Yoon comes from Korea and she learns how to write her English name before she goes to the new school. But she didn’t adapt to writing way in America and she doesn’t like America. With the help of the teacher and classmates, Yoon learns to write her name in English and discovers it’s no matter what your name is or where you are born, you are just you. Some are long and some are short, everyone needs time to adapt to new things when we are arriving at a new place.

Secondly, I learned that we should help newcomers to adapt to the new environment. The newcomers will have a variety of questions about everything. We can help newcomers to adapt to the new world. In the story, Yoon’s teacher doesn’t force Yoon to write her English name and encourages Yoon whatever Yoon writes anything on every line in class. Yoon’s classmate the ponytail girl shares the cupcake with Yoon, and they have giggled together and make friends. When Yoon’s teacher and her classmates kindly to Yoon and sincerely help Yoon， Yoon fits into the new school quickly. If we can help newcomers and they will fit into the new environment quickly.

Last but not least, I learned that we need to change ourselves if we don’t change the situation. Because changing ourselves is easier than changing the world. In the story, Yoon decided to paint one picture for the teacher every day when she has known she doesn’t back to Korea. Yoon thinks these pictures will let the teacher like her. So we can try to change ourselves to fit the new places when we arrive the new places.

From this book, I learned three important things. First, everyone needs time to adapt to new things when they are arriving at a new place. Secondly, we should help newcomers to adapt to the new environment. Last, I learned that we need to change ourselves if we don’t change the situation. This is a spare and inspiring story. I guess you will like it, too.