Heather Bivens (Children's Literature)
Son's novel tells the life story of Jin-Han Park, a second-generation Korean American, from his beginnings through his adolescence. The hat in the title refers to Jin-Han's first memory, in which he was taking a walk with his mother and his hat blew off. The hat becomes a metaphor for Jin-Han's identity, something he is searching for throughout the novel. The book focuses primarily on his relationship with his parents, who came to the United States before he was born. The novel contains incidents that show the problems that Korean-Americans face, such as the language barrier between Jin-Han's parents and others in their community. It also explores culture clashes between Korean-Americans and African-Americans, as in an altercation between Jin-Han's parents and a customer in the wig store that they own. Parents should be aware that early in the novel, an incident occurs in which Jin-Han's family makes light of African-American stereotypes; however, the book ultimately conveys the message that this attitude is unacceptable. As Jin-Han grows into adolescence, he wants to assimilate more into his circle of American friends and makes attempts to rebel against his family. When his mother is diagnosed with cancer, Jin-Han realizes that he must reconnect with his parents instead of pulling away from them. This novel stresses to preteen readers the importance of staying true to themselves while still respecting their origins and families. The book's ending includes a glossary of Korean words used in the novel and a short biography of the author. 2003, Orchard Books, $16.95. Ages 8 to 12.

Leslie Rounds (Children's Literature)
In this vivid, fictionalized autobiographical account of growing up as a Korean child in America of the 1970s and 80s, John Son describes a childhood that is at once quite different, and at the same very similar to that of most other American children. The loving and hardworking Korean parents of Jin-Han Park are just as determined to preserve their Korean background as they are to have their children grow up to be successful Americans. At times this blending of Korean--a language he doesn't fully understand-- spoken at home, with a culture at school he yearns to meld into, leaves Jin-Han confused and resentful. He finds himself not fitting in well, or completely understanding, either of the two worlds in which he lives. Simultaneously, many of his experiences: discovering young love as a middle-schooler, resenting piano lessons and his parents concern for his future, are universal situations many readers will identify with. The book follows Jin-Han from the age of two. Although his two-year old memories are clearly colored by the adult reporting them, his voice is honest and the tale compelling enough to hold the interest of most readers. Jin-Han is likeable, and his unique story interesting enough to keep most readers' attention until the end of this compelling first novel, the third in the series, "First Person Fiction." 2003, Orchard Books, $16.95. Ages 10 to 14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 18))
Poetic, memoir-style vignettes tell the story of Jin-Han's life from toddlerhood to early adolescence. When a gusty Chicago wind sweeps away two-year-old Jin-Han's acorn-shaped hat, the first-person narration-this is an entry in the First Person Fiction series-is a child's-eye view infused with an older gaze. This voice continues until Jin-Han reaches junior high, when his first crushes and dawning sexual feelings make the narration more solidly integrated-and suddenly funny. His Korean immigrant parents move the family from Chicago to Memphis to Dallas trying to earn a living, and Jin-Han wends his way between kimchi and Tolkien, between the simple spoken Korean that he understands and the fast adult Korean that he doesn't. The gentle role of hats on the literal level holds a surprising and deep metaphor for the careful reader. This quiet story shows how unembellished observation can be quite moving, from hats lost in the wind to a shocking and powerful event at the end. (author's note, glossary) 2003, Orchard, $16.95. Category: Fiction. Ages 13 up. © 2003 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, January 2004 (Vol. 38, No. 1))
John Son adds the inspiration of his own family's immigrant experience to this excellent series: John's parents were born in Korea; he was born in Germany (like his protagonist Jin-Han) and immigrated to America with his parents as a young child. He begins this fictional story with incidents in Jin-Han's early childhood, his first memories living with his loving parents in Chicago. The family decides to invest in a wig store, as other Koreans in the 1970s were doing, with many of their customers African Americans. The family migrates first to Memphis and later to Houston, working hard at the wig shops and building their assets. The story of Jin-Han and his family (a little sister comes along eventually) is told in whimsical vignettes, many of which are amusing tales of family life, until later, when Jin-Han is a teenager and his mother is stricken with cancer and dies. Before this tragedy, Jin-Han is slowly learning about girls--he is popular with his friends and leads a life he's pretty sure his parents couldn't possibly understand...he thinks there probably isn't even a Korean world for "crush." When his Ahpbah (father) tells him "I'm afraid I'm having some bad news," Jin-Han at first is angry. "I didn't want to hear this kind of thing. I wanted to be mad at him for telling me something so incredibly crappy, especially when I was having the most incredible time with my first real girlfriend." When his mother comes home from the hospital, with no hair, desperately ill, "Uhmmah looked at me and quickly looked away, almost as if she was embarrassed, that she was letting me down, my sister, Ahpbah, the family. Even if I had known enough Korean, I don't think I would've been able to say what I felt." John Son covers a lot of emotional territory with his first person fiction, from early childhood cozy memories to the horror of the death of his mother. In an afterword, he tells how his own family experiences mirror those in the fiction, even the fact that his own Uhmmah (to whom the book is dedicated) died of stomach cancer. (First Person Fiction) Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2003, Scholastic/Orchard, 183p., $16.95. Ages 12 to 18.

Stephanie Rips (The ALAN Review, Winter 2004 (Vol. 31, No. 2))
Have you ever felt like your family is different than everyone else's? Jin-Han Park has. Young Jin-Han is a first generation Korean American immigrant. Not only do Jin-Han's parents speak a different language at home than he speaks in public, but they look different, act different, and eat different foods than everyone else. In Finding My Hat, we follow Jin-Han through his battles in kindergarten all the way through his years in junior high school where he quite humorously discovers girls. Jin-Han's story is that of a young boy dealing with the many hardships and triumphs life seems to throw at him. Finding My Hat is told with grace and style, while still addressing many difficult issues including the tragic death of his mother. Young adult readers will be quick to engage in Jin-Han's story. Category: Coming of Age. YA--Young Adult. 2003, Orchard Books, 185 pp., $16.95. Ages young adult.Tempe, AZ

Karen Coats (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March 2004 (Vol. 57, No. 7))
Jin-Han’s earliest memory is of a cold, windy day in Chicago when he was two and a gust of wind lifted his hat off his head and out of reach. Using hats and wigs as metaphors of identity, Son tracks the lives and fortunes of Jin-Han’s family as they struggle to make a life for themselves in various cities in the U.S. Jin-Han’s memories are presented in small, textured vignettes of school life, first love, and the death of his mother, set against the various moves of the family. Jin-Han’s father realizes that the only way for them to make a living is to open their own business with the help of other Koreans, so they leave Chicago for Memphis. The economy in Memphis is bad, however, so they move their wig shop to Houston. Later, Jin-Han learns the reasons why his parents left Korea in the first place and takes a trip to the land of his parents, which is beautiful, but is not his home. Son effectively captures the halting directness and linguistic frustrations of a child reared in a bilingual environment. As he tells the stories of himself and his family, Jin-Han’s voice is at first shy and tentative, making the reading experience rather slow-going. Though it is difficult to believe that he would remember incidents from when he was two years old, the first-person narration will generate reader empathy, and the credibility of his story is enhanced rather than strained by the stories he tells. His narrative voice develops fluency as he gains self-confidence and a sense of his identity; though Jin-Han was born in the States, he feels like an outsider until he slides his hand up a girl’s shirt at a dance, making him something of a junior-high celebrity. This is another sound entry in Scholastic’s First Person Fiction series, providing readers with a glimpse of the big picture of Korean immigrant experience in the ’60s and ’70s as well as smaller snapshots of one boy’s everyday life. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (First Person Fiction) (c) Copyright 2004, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2003, Orchard, 185p, $16.95. Grades 4-8.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2004)
Ostensibly a story of growing up Korean American, this fictionalized memoir is as much a picture of mid-1970s middle-class American life, Star Wars and all. First in Memphis and then in Houston, Jin-Han's immigrant family tries for the American dream by running wig stores in black neighborhoods. Son adroitly blends the theme of assimilation with detail attentive to the particulars of Jin-Han's boyhood. (First Person Fiction series). Category: Older Fiction. 2003, Scholastic/Orchard, 185pp, $16.95. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.