Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

I was browsing new titles on NetGalley recently and saw a title listed that immediately caught my attention. The book was Just One Gift (HarperCollins/Clarion Books, April 2026) by Linda Sue Park.

I didn’t know Linda Sue Park at all until late summer 2017 when I found out that I would be teaching one section of 6th grade literature in the fall. I’d never taught 6th grade anything so I was apprehensive and immediately started reading books that I thought I might want to teach.

One of those books was A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park. I read the book in one go, sat down to start reading it and didn’t get up until I finished it. That book is so moving and powerful. I highly recommend it, whether you are a 6th grader or not. Don’t just take my word for it; it won the 2003 Newbery Medal for excellence in children’s literature.

A Single Shard (Clarion Books, 2001) is a work of historical fiction, set in 12th century Korea, in a village along the sea. The village, due to the unique quality of the mud along the seashore, is renowned for its pottery. The story follows the journey of a homeless orphaned boy who is fascinated with the making of pottery, as he watches from a distance the work of a master potter. This is a wonderful story, one of redemption, found family, creativity, and most importantly, perseverance. It is rich with symbolism and figurative language making it a joy to teach. It is also a history lesson on the ancient civilization of Korea, as well as an art lesson on pottery, the art of turning mud into beautiful and useful objects.

After a very successful unit teaching this book to my amazing 6th grade class, I organized a field trip for us to visit the Freer Gallery, the National Museum of Asian Art, a museum in Washington, DC, run by the Smithsonian and located on the Mall. There, we were taken on a tour by a very knowledgeable docent who pointed out all of the ancient Korean pottery from the 12th century, bringing the reading and learning from this great book full circle. How lucky was I to teach this book so nearby a museum that could bring this book to life for my students!

If you are fortunate enough to visit the Freer Gallery, be sure you include the Peacock Room on your tour there. It is quite amazing! Read more about it here!

So, of course you can see why I am a fan of Linda Sue Park. Her latest book, Just One Gift, does not disappoint. It is a novel told in verse, a series of “poems” which each represent a chapter of the book. Each poem is a class assignment from a student asked to write about a gift you would give to someone special in your life, someone who falls into one of three categories (randomly chosen by the students by drawing slips of paper from a hat): friend, family, or ?. The ? represents someone who isn’t a family member or a friend, but someone still a part of your life. The teacher goes on to say that teachers are part of that category, but for this writing exercise the students are not to list her name.

Each of the 20 students in Mrs. Chang’s first period language arts class gets a chapter, explaining who they have chosen from their category, what gift they have chosen to give that person, and why. The answers are surprising, heartfelt, deep, and touching. If you think all teenagers or tweens are terrible human beings with no feelings and live only for video games and social media, you are wrong and can really learn something from this book.

I retired from teaching in June of 2023, but if I were still teaching, I would 100% be teaching Linda Sue Park’s new book, Just One Gift, in my middle school language arts classroom. And, the writing assignment described in this beautifully illustrated book would find its way into my own lesson plans for English class.

Thank you to NetGalley, Linda Sue Park, and HarperCollins Publishers/Clarion Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

And to Linda Sue Park, especially, thank you for one of the greatest teaching experiences of my carer sharing A Single Shard with a really great group of 6th graders.