Shard Is a Book About

¶ … Shard is a book about a young homeless boy named Tree-ear, who lived in 12th century Korea and is being raised by a physically disabled but proud man by the name of Crane-man. Tree-ear accidentally breaks a piece of beautiful pottery made by the well-known artist Min, and has to work for Min until the damage is paid. It is Tree-ear's hope that Min will eventually forgive him and teach him the potter's wheel.

When Tree-ear completes his debt, Min allows Tree-ear to continue his work in exchange for food. However, he does not let the boy make pottery himself. Tree-ear is only able to do the physical labor associated with the kiln -- collecting wood for the fire, and gathering the clay. When the Emperor's assistant comes to the village, all the potters want to make a positive impression and work long and difficult hours at their work. Tree-ear by chance discovers that another potter has developed a new technique that will win favor with the Emperor. He has to decide whether or not it is ethical to tell Min. Even though Tree-ear knows that Min can recreate the new approach, would it be right to share someone else's secret? This is when the real adventure begins, and it becomes well worth reading. You do not know how it is going to end.

This book gives a lot of detail of what it was like growing up in Korea. This is not a country that most Americans read about, so much of the information is interesting. However, Single Shard starts off very slow and it takes a few chapters to get involved. It would be helpful if some of the action came earlier to make the readers be more interested. The book is also slow when the author describes the potters' activities and Tree-ear's travels to the palace. Perhaps some of this information could be put in the back as part of a separate section. It is also sometimes difficult to understand some of the things taking place, because the culture is so different. It would be helpful to read a little about Korea before reading the book.