Sora’s Seashells: a Name Is a Gift to Be Treasured

Helena Ku Rhee, Stella Lim (Illustrator), Ji-Hyuk Kim (Illustrator)

2023 40 pages(Candlewick Press)

9781536209938

1536209937

Every summer, when Sora’s Halmoni, or grandmother, visits from South Korea, the two of them take the bus to the beach to search for seashells. While Sora likes to take all of them back with her, Halmoni always leaves the prettiest shell for someone else to find and treasure. As summer turns to fall, Halmoni returns home and Sora starts kindergarten, where some of the kids tease her about her “weird” name. One day, Sora’s parents receive a sad call about her grandmother, and Sora feels more lost than ever about who she is and how she fits in. But when her parents reveal the origin of her name,

Why I like this book: Sora’s Seashells is a diverse book about a little girl that’s teased about her name. The book explores themes of loss of a family member and taking pride in cultural heritage.