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Ginger Park

Goodreads Author

Website

https://www.parksisters.com/

Genre

Children's, Historical Fiction, Fiction

Member Since

April 2011

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Author of THE HUNDRED CHOICES DEPARTMENT STORE (awarded 2022 BEST BOOKS by Korean American Authors by Best of Korea) https://bestofkorea.com/round-up-of-k.... Recently published: GRANDPA'S SCROLL. Forthcoming: SUKA'S FARM (Fall, 2024), BINNA'S BIRTHDAY (Spring, 2025).

According to my life path number 3, I was destined to write (that is if you believe in numerology and I do). But as a youngster, I was an athlete, a gymnast with boundless energy, spending most of my time upside down, turning cartwheels and doing backflips – I was too carefree to tap into my creative side.

That all changed on my seventeenth birthday, two days after my father’s untimely death. Call it a gut-wrenching aha moment, a reflective day of tearful soul-searching when I r Author of THE HUNDRED CHOICES DEPARTMENT STORE (awarded 2022 BEST BOOKS by Korean American Authors by Best of Korea) https://bestofkorea.com/round-up-of-k.... Recently published: GRANDPA'S SCROLL. Forthcoming: SUKA'S FARM (Fall, 2024), BINNA'S BIRTHDAY (Spring, 2025).

According to my life path number 3, I was destined to write (that is if you believe in numerology and I do). But as a youngster, I was an athlete, a gymnast with boundless energy, spending most of my time upside down, turning cartwheels and doing backflips – I was too carefree to tap into my creative side.

That all changed on my seventeenth birthday, two days after my father’s untimely death. Call it a gut-wrenching aha moment, a reflective day of tearful soul-searching when I realized that I knew very little about my parents – their lives and dreams growing up in Korea, their struggles to survive in a world of war, oppression, and life shattering events.

For the next few months, I was fretful, clinging to my mother, yearning to know her life story as well as my father’s, fearing our time together was like sand in an hourglass. Night after night, we stayed up late sifting through old photos as my mother shared anecdotal events of the homeland. I was mesmerized, listening, interpreting, and ultimately crafting my art while documenting my family’s rich past that spanned the Korean peninsula from the northern port city of Sinuiju to the capital city of Seoul.

And, so, began my writing journey.

While I never followed in my father’s Harvard footsteps, writing books and owning a boutique chocolate shop in the heart of downtown Washington, DC have been my true education. Yes, Books and Chocolate. As writer and entrepreneur, I’ve built a sweet life, surviving and thriving in an uncertain world.

I’ve written a delicious chocolate memoir and a cookbook for allergy sufferers as well as some whimsical picture books such as Where on Earth Is My Bagel? and The Have a Good Day Café. Do you see a theme here? Yes, I’m a foodie at heart! But it is the books inspired by my parents’ experiences growing up in Japanese occupied Korea, enduring the Russian invasion of their homeland and the Korean War, that have deeper meaning, bring a tragic yet vibrant world back to life.

Sadly, my mother passed away in 2019, but like my father, she lives on through my books, which have garnered many accolades including the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award, Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, The Joan G. Sugarman Children’s Book Award, Outstanding Merit, Best Children’s Books of the Year, Bank Street College, Parents’ Choice Award, A Junior Library Guild Selection, IRA-CBC Teachers’ Choice Award, and NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book For Young People Children’s Book Award.

My books have been published by National Geographic, Boyds Mills & Kane, Hyperion, Lee & Low, St. Martin’s Press, Thomas Dunne, and Albert Whitman.

I’m honored to add Regal House Publishing to the list with the publication of my latest work The Hundred Choices Department Store. Set in Sinuiju, Korea, this historical novel is inspired by my mother’s remembrances of her family’s painful struggles during the Russian invasion of their hometown and ultimate flight south, across the 38th parallel to Seoul, just prior to the outbreak of the Korean War.

When I’m not writing or spending treasured time with my human and fur baby family, I’m usually at my shop, behind the counter ‘breaking chocolate’ with my beloved customers. My shop motto: There’s a chocolate for every mood. But for me it’s always something dark and earthy that lingers on the tongue long after the chocolate has melted. ...more

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Average rating: 3.91 · 792 ratings · 183 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	Chocolate Chocolate: The True Story of Two Sisters, Tons of Treats, and the Little Shop That Could by Frances Park (Goodreads Author), Ginger Park (Goodreads Author) 3.59 avg rating — 216 ratings — published 2011 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Royal Bee by Frances Park (Goodreads Author), Ginger Park (Goodreads Author), Christopher Zhongyuan Zhang (Illustrator) 4.19 avg rating — 154 ratings — published 2000 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	To Swim Across the World by Frances Park (Goodreads Author), Ginger Park (Goodreads Author) 4.10 avg rating — 148 ratings — published 2001 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hundred Choices Department Store 4.11 avg rating — 103 ratings — published 2022 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Have a Good Day Cafe by Frances Park (Goodreads Author), Ginger Park (Goodreads Author), Katherine Potter 3.70 avg rating — 97 ratings — published 2002 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Grandpa's Scroll by Ginger Park (Goodreads Author), Frances Park (Goodreads Author), Kim Dong Hoon (Illustrator) 4.29 avg rating — 76 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Where on Earth Is My Bagel? by National Geographic Learning, Ginger Park (Goodreads Author), Grace Lin (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 3.76 avg rating — 78 ratings — published 2001 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Suka's Farm by Ginger Park (Goodreads Author), Frances Park (Goodreads Author), Tiffany Chen (Goodreads Author) (illustrator) 4.61 avg rating — 18 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Sister's Doljabi by Ginger Park (Goodreads Author), Frances Park (Goodreads Author), Violet Kim (Illustrator) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 14 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	I piaceri intimi del cioccolato (Piemme voci) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Ginger Park rated a book it was amazing Ahn Love by Frances Park (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 26, 2025 03:28AM · like
Ginger Park rated a book it was amazing My Sister's Doljabi by Ginger Park (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Ginger Park rated a book it was amazing Pepe and the Piñata: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage by Tracey Kyle	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Join young Pepe as his family prepares for a festive Mexican Christmas, filling the house with delicious aromas and vibrant traditions. Told in rhyme, this story is a feast for the senses, from the sweet and savory foods to the cheerful illustrations ...more
Oct 29, 2025 03:03AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Pepe and the Piñata by Tracey Kyle. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Pepe and the Piñata by Tracey Kyle <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ginger Park liked Ann Staats's review of Pepe and the Piñata: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage: "It’s time to celebrate! As Pepe helps to prepare for Christmas, he and his friends make food, help decorate, and get ready for the big event. The highlight of the celebration is a colorful piñata that brings the community together and provides much j" Read more of this review »
Oct 17, 2025 07:37AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Pepe and the Piñata by Tracey Kyle. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Pepe and the Piñata by Tracey Kyle <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ginger Park rated a book it was amazing Pepe and the Piñata: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage by Tracey Kyle	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Join young Pepe as his family prepares for a festive Mexican Christmas, filling the house with delicious aromas and vibrant traditions. Told in rhyme, this story is a feast for the senses, from the sweet and savory foods to the cheerful illustrations ...more
Oct 15, 2025 05:26PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Pepe and the Piñata by Tracey Kyle. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Pepe and the Piñata by Tracey Kyle <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ginger Park liked Jolene Gutiérrez's review of My Sister's Doljabi: "Join Hoon and his little sister Binna as their family prepares to celebrate Binna's first birthday. A doljabi ceremony will be part of Binna's first birthday--a tradition where the baby chooses an item that reveals what their future might hold. Hoon " Read more of this review »
Aug 14, 2025 05:22AM · see review
Ginger Park rated a book it was amazing Freedom at Dawn: Robert Smalls's Voyage Out of Slavery by Leah Schanke	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Ginger Park rated a book it was amazing So Many Books! by Sue Fliess (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Ginger Park rated a book it was amazing A Teddy Bear for Emily―and President Roosevelt, Too by Nancy Churnin (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Ginger Park rated a book it was amazing After the Shelter by Brenda Reeves Sturgis	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 10, 2025 04:56AM · like

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message 1: by John

Apr 30, 2013 08:18AM

Hi, Ginger~~if you and Frances have not done, please read Cakes and Ale~~John Begg

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