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A Single Shard Linda Sue Park Trade Paperback | Yearling | 0-440-41851-8 | February 2003 | $5.99 | Ages 10 and up

Tree-ear and Crane-man are not people you'd expect to be friends, and yet they are. Orphaned at the age of two, Tree-ear comes to live under a bridge with an older man who has a withered leg, Crane-man. Together they look through trash heaps to find food and clothing, and although you'd expect them to be sad, they're not. In fact, they are quite happy with their lives. Happy, that is, until Tree-ear spies master potter Min making his remarkable creations. Once Tree-ear sees how delicate and unique each vase is, he decides this is what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He becomes an apprentice for Min, doing menial chores for over a year in the hopes that one day Min will teach him how to make vases like he does. When Tree-ear finally gathers enough courage to ask Min to teach him, Min refuses, saying it is a tradition that is only handed down from father to son and he, Tree-ear, is not his son. Heartbroken, Tree-ear looks to Crane-man for comfort and advice, and is not disappointed. Taking his advice, Tree-ear soon begins a perilous journey with Min's creations to a city far away, hoping the king will like Min's work enough to ask for more. It is this journey that changes Tree-ear's life forever.

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Prepared by Brenda Day, Library Media Specialist, Crowley Middle School, Crowley, TX

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