Saying Goodbye

Ellen Sung #2

by Marie G. Lee

Ellen Sung, beginning her freshman year at Harvard, is initially overwhelmed with trying to balance her interests with her difficult pre-med requirements and is soon thrown into situations that demand difficult choices. By the author of Finding My Voice.

Genres: Childrens, Asian Literature, Young Adult

219 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 1994

About the author

Marie G. Lee is a second-generation Korean American who was born and raised in Minnesota. Marie was born on April 25, 1964 in Hibbing, Minnesota. She is the daughter of William and Grace Lee, who immigrated to the United States in 1953.

As a Founder of the Asian American Writers Workshop, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Kenyon Review, and several anthologies. Her books include Finding My Voice, the story of Ellen Sung's senior year as the only Asian in a small Minnesota high school; Saying Goodbye, a sequel to Finding My Voice, is the story of Ellen Sung's continued search for her Korean American identity at Harvard; Necessary Roughness, the story of a Korean American boy who wants to play football; and If It Hadn't Been for Yoon Jun, the story of a Korean American adoptee, Alice Larsen, who confronts her Korean identity when she meets Yoon Jun, a Korean immigrant who is her fellow student at school. If It Hadn't Been for Yoon Jun is a finalist for the Maud Hart Lovelace award.
Marie's latest book is Night of the Chupacabras - a funny, slightly scary mystery about Mexican Vampires!

Marie draws on her experiences growing up as a Korean American. She is a graduate of Brown University, and a lecturer at Yale. She enjoys children and is a great role model for all kids. Her books are particularly relevant for Asian American children growing up in America today.

NEW FLASH!! The novel is being reissued by Soho Press forbes.com/sites/rachelkramerbussel/2...

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't as compelling as the first book, Finding My Voice. For me, it was a disappointing follow up. The characters weren't as well developed and their motivations weren't always clear or didn't make sense to me. Also, I felt that the main character could have had more self-realizations about her own role in the conflict that was central to the story. To me, understanding when you are wrong and being able to apologize is part of maturing and being an adult, which is one of the themes of this book. On the plus side, the author really captured dorm life and the ambience of a college campus.

[Bezawit · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was the best book I've read recently. Especially the fact that Ellen and Leecia became friends instantly even tho they were from different races. And they both stand up to what they believe even if that causes any kind of trouble between them they manage to solve it, and Jae is just the best boyfriend a girl could receive. Even though she did it for what she believed in I still don't think she should've switched the posters, she should've stopped and think about how it would make Leecia feel cause she saw what she has gone through.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading more about Ellen in this book. Here, Ellen is at Harvard and navigating college. She bonds with her African American roommate and is learning about the Korean American experience in other parts of the country, including the race riots in Los Angeles. I wish there were more books with Ellen and her later college years. I would have loved loved loved these books when I was in my teens.

[kie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a 3.5
I enjoyed the book and how openly it discussed social issues. The book didn't feel as finished as it could've been which could've been the goal considering the last chaper or so being about how things dont always end neatly. The book also uses some outdated language which in my opinion is excusable considering the publidh date. I also wish it would've shown more of Ellen's struggles when falling into college life.

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellen Sung is off to Harvard for her freshman year and even though her sister goes there, too, it’s a whole new experience for her to be on her own. She meets a lot of new people – becomes best friends with her roommate, Leecia, and starts dating Jae – a guy from her Tae kwon do class. She also learns a lot more about herself, what it means to be Korean, and what it is that she really wants to do with her life (study chemistry, become a doctor and a writer). Then, Ellen’s world just falls apart. Leecia’s group, the African American Students Alliance, invites a popular rap star to campus – one whose lyrics encourage violence against Koreans and Ellen discovers she has strong feelings against this kind of racism. She and Leecia have a huge argument that gets filmed by a television crew and each of them says things that can’t be taken back. At the same time, one of Ellen’s short stories is accepted by Sassy Magazine. One of the characters is based on her friend Jessie, and when Jessie gets a copy of the story, she vows never to speak to Ellen again. Can things get any worse?

This was a very thoughtful coming of age story. It introduces concepts of cultural identity and discusses racism in a realistic way. While the cover isn’t particularly attractive, the story is still relevant today, and it covers race relations between African and Korean Americans – a new-to-me topic that made this particularly fresh. This book follows Finding My Voice, which is also about Ellen Sung.

[Bernadette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book mostly because the author brought the issues right out in the open from the very beginning. At first I thought it was a bit much, but then I realized that these issues would be "out in the open" in these characters' lives. The contrast between Ellen and Leecia, who is very knowledgeable and active in fighting for African American rights, was interesting. Ellen and Leecia discuss on page 21 African- and Asian-American literature, which Ellen admits she does not know and is not interested in. Her honesty about not feeling like an Asian American is shared, I'm sure, by thousands of other Asians who grew up American without an emphasis on their Asian background. Lee also does an excellent job dealing with the diversity of Asian immigrants. The members of KASH all have various backgrounds, which Ellen slowly discovers.

[Islam Khatib · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it , very intelligent writer

[SR]

I remember reading two years ago and I think I liked it? I eventually forgot the name of the book but I found it again. I think I might reread it.