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Seoul Story Book Review
Seoul Story, by Susie Lawlor, is a bilingual (English and Korean) children’s picture book, and loosely based autobiographical sketch of the author's adoption from South Korea to the United States in 1970. The story introduces to children, parents and others, about a multicultural, transracial adoption. The book is unique in that it includes authentic photos from the author’s time at the orphanage and is laid out in a photo album format.
Adult readers may be fascinated, how on its face, a seemingly simple children’s book has a multilayered, complex construct. The book begins with a photo album format with black pages and taped sepia toned photographs of old Korea, Yangju Child Care Center orphanage, and its orphans. The young children’s dark eyes and bowl haircuts look back at you with hopeful longing. The story gives a glimpse of one orphanage, one year, one adopted child; but there were well over 400 orphanages and agencies throughout South Korea, decades of orphaned children from the ravages of war, poverty and shame, and over 200,000 parentless children shipped overseas to a whole new world and life.
Familiarity and understanding of the backdrop of Korean culture, the devastations of the Korean War and its aftermath, allows adult readers to navigate and impart the story to children in a more enlightened way. Patriarchy in Korean culture as well as many cultures, is extremely important. Purity of race and familial ties, as well as an attempt to achieve an impeccable façade, and not bring shame on one’s family, prevents most Koreans from adopting or fostering one’s non family members. Additionally, the Korean War, 1950-1953, brought American troops to fight against North Korea’s communist invasion, on South Korea’s behalf. The impact and consequences of the Korean War, poverty, unions with American soldiers, and the Korean government’s refusal to take care of their country’s social problems, led to thousands upon thousands of orphans.
Continuing with the innocent story, once the orphan is adopted by a U.S. Army soldier and his family and brought to America, the black pages and sepia toned photos transition to white pages and color photos, to infer a bright new beginning and hopeful life in America, think of the Wizard of Oz.
Seoul Story also presents an opportunity for anyone to begin an open conversation about adoption, the complexities of why children are adopted and what makes a family. Children may enjoy the sweet orphan story, but it also introduces, shares and educates them to an experience that they otherwise would not have known or been introduced.
