Finding Jack by Gareth Crocker

I grew up in Korea, and when I was a child, I didn't see any pet dogs in my neighborhood. However, there was a scary guard dog in our neighborhood, and it became a daily trial to walk in front of the doors of that house. I would tip-toe to the house, then run across as fast as I could because I was so scared of the dog's loud and menacing bark. 

This was the extent of my exposure to dogs until I met my husband to be. Now, we are a family of dog lovers. My favorite quote about dogs - Not everyone knows how to love a dog, but every dog knows how to love a person.

But this book shows the width and the depth of love and devotion one man feels for the dog that not only saves his life and the lives of others on patrol with him, but gives him a reason to live. The extraordinary lengths Fletcher will go to save Jack's life is crazy, stupid, and incredibly inspiring.

~Spoiler Alert~

Fletcher Carson enlists for the Vietnam War for all the wrong  reasons. He had recently lost his wife and daughter, and he didn't want to go on living. At 29, he enlists, and a friend asks him why.

"Our soldiers are being massacred in Vietnam. Most of them are still kids. They've got their whole lives ahead of them. It makes sense that people like me enlist." 

He enlists, but it doesn't mean he has a death wish. He merely goes through motions of doing what he needs to do, but he's not fully engaged in fighting or trying to stay alive until he meets Jack, a yellow Lab. A yellow Lab emerges from the trees already injured, but the soldiers are weary of such encounters. They already heard enough stories of rigged injured animals being blown up as the American soldiers tried to help them. So, immediately, their leader orders Fletcher to "take him out." When Fletcher refuses, another soldier is ordered, and he shoots the dog. The dog is gravely injured, but Fletcher carries the dog back to the base.

At the base, Jack recovers from his injuries and goes out on patrols with Fletcher's group. Many times, Jack saves the lives of Fletcher's group, and eventually the war ends with both Fletcher and Jack surviving the ordeal, even though several from his group had died in battle. By the war's end, Fletcher is convinced that Jack was sent by his dead daughter to let him know that she and her mother, Fletcher's wife are doing OK. BUT the end was anything but what Fletcher had imagined. The dogs that kept so many of the soldiers alive were considered "surplus military equipment," and the plan was to abandon them in Vietnam.

This is not an acceptable solution to Fletcher, and he tries to find a way to take Jack back home with him. But there is no other way but one. Fletcher jumps from a helicopter as it lifts off, and stay on with Jack. Now, he and Jack must find their way out of Vietnam by land (Vietnam to Laos to Thailand). It is a harrowing journey strewn with extreme dangers, both natural and man-made, but together, they overcome them all. In the end, they make it to Thailand, and finally, they are able to come to America together. He even bring out others who have helped him survive his nightmarish ordeal.

I love to learn something new from a book, and though I don't feel that I've learned anything new from this book, it was an enjoyable read. The only complaint I have about this books is that over and over, right people with right equipment came just in nick of time to rescue Fletcher and Jack, especially at the end on their journey out of Vietnam. 

I'd recommend this book to any dog lover, but anyone who is interested in an enjoyable read.

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

One of the teachers I work with at my daughter's elementary school introduced me to this book, and I absolutely loved it. Let me tell you why.

I immigrated to the US when I was ten-years-old from South Korea. Though, at the time, I found consolation in my false impressions that my father spoke English, but I soon found out how little English he actually spoke at the time. Due to lack of English language skills, my brothers and I were teased quite often, but more than anything, our weird names painted big, fat target on our backs.
 
My Korean name is Ryoung Ah. This is enunciated with the silent R, usually, but the correct enunciation rolls the R in front of the y. But how could the kids in my 4th grade have known? They had to make do with a jumble of letters that you just don't see in American names very often. So, my name got butchered from Rye-young-gah to R-youn-gah, to any number of unwieldy sounds. But I didn't have the courage to correct any of them. One of my brother's name is Dong Hwan, but it got changed to Ding Dong. Dong Dong, etc. The other brother's name is Kyung Tai, but it got changed to Kee-young-tie, etc.

Needless to say, changing Korean names to American names sounded like a good idea, and we did. But even in this, my path to finding an American name of my own wasn't smooth. I liked Christine. Christine Kim had a nice ring to it. So, the next day, I went to school and told another Korean girl that beginning next Monday, I was going to everyone to call me Christine. Well, that "friend" had told everyone to call her Christine after the first recess, and I was left out in the cold. I had to start my search for an American name all over again. Finally, by the end of next week, I settled on Jennifer. I don't even remember if I particularly liked the name, but I chose it because I knew no one else named Jennifer.

With all these stories behind how I ended up with my name, I enjoyed this wonderful book and loved the choice she made. I think it was the right choice for her, but I also realize that I made the right choice for me.

I am Jennifer Ryoung Ah Kim.

P.S. I thought I should add this funny story. When we first got here, my brothers and I were desperate to make friends, and wondered why it was so hard to make friends.... Well, before we started school, my Korean-American uncle taught us a phrase that supposed to keep us out of trouble.

The phrase was... I can't speak English. Please, leave me alone.

What?!? I know.

Even now, I have a hard time believing that my uncle actually taught us the phrase thinking it would solve all kinds of problems. And here we were, wondering why we couldn't make any friends.

A free book giveaway on Amazon

Hello everyone. I guess it makes sense that I should love my own book, but this one is particularly personal in regards that it's based on a dream.

I'm running a promotion on Amazon. You can download my latest book, Last Chance Lane by Jennifer R. Kim, for free on 12/3.

I'll tell you about how things are going in my next blog.

Enjoy!