It is often said that war makes children grow up too soon. Was this true
for Sookan? Use examples from the book to support your opinion
from the book year of the impossible goodbyes
In the young adult novel, The Year of Impossible Goodbyes, Sookan does have to grow up quickly, not necessarily by choice, but by necessity. This book is partly autobiographical as the author's own early life mirrors some of the events in the book. One particular instance was her experience with death, and especially death of someone close. Sookan had to not only deal with that but make herself function in order to survive. She also had to deal with people being prejudiced against you simply because of your ethnicity and culture. She saw this when the Japanese occupied her area of Korea, and then later when the Russians came in.