This novel follows Ehwa, a young girl growing up with her widowed mother in a rural Korean village. Told through rich language and evocative images, we watch as Ehwa exits childhood into the first blush of womanhood. Meanwhile, her mother is finding renewed youth with a traveling artist who visits occasionally.

The mother and daughter share secrets and discuss love, sex, and life as the beauty of the seasons wash by in the background. For Ehwa, nature is a powerful tool for understanding the changes and challenges she faces every day. Although there is much about adult life she doesn't understand, her curiosity and wonder provide her satisfaction as she waits upon what life will bring her.

This is a beautiful coming of age narrative which will charm any reader regardless of culture or background. ( )

While the notes at the end of the book laud this as a feminist work, I can't totally agree. Ehwa and her mother live on their own and are totally self-sufficient, but other than talking about puberty, they spend most of their time discussing boys and men. (This is a shout-out to my YAAers who introduced me to the Bechdel test!) Regardless, the graphics were so expressive that even though they were in black and white, I saw each frame in color. So much emotion was over the top, but it totally sucked me in. I have already requested the next book in the series. ( )

First in a trilogy, this is very much a coming-of-age novel about Ehwa, who ages from about age 5 to 13 in this installment. She lives with her widowed mother, who runs a tavern. Ehwa's mother has a boyfriend-of sorts, a traveling artist who stops buy irregularly. Ehwa is a bit younger/more naive than her friend Bongsoon. Ehwa likes both a young monk-in-training and the local landowner's son (who Bongsoon has her eyes on). This is a sweet story, but I was surprised the author is male.

The drawings in this are amazing. They are single-color, small and large panels. The flora drawings are both important to the story and so amazing. Kim's facial expressions are also very well done.

I will be reading #2 of 3 in the near future! ( )

Successfully straddles the line between frank and poetic sexuality - reading Ehwa's journey in becoming a woman was simply delightful. ( )

Completely unsure how to rate this one because of millions of conflicting feelings. I loved (and honestly was discomfited by) how frank and open the sexual discussions were. Human sexuality is shown as normal rather than shameful behavior, which was refreshing.

However, I wasn't sure I liked the emphasis on beauty and femininity and fragility that all the floral/botanical metaphors conferred. I don't like it when people, men especially, say they want to protect women by putting them on a high pedestal of hyper-femininity and innocence (something that happens in India in discussions of women as "goddesses" to be revered). I also dislike when women are treated as strange creatures men will never understand.

But at the same time, this is a historical piece and must be seen through that lens. I wasn't sure how much of the discomfort/annoyance I felt about the book were from my own modern American biases and ignorance about Korean culture and history in general. It's hard for me to gauge how important a feminist work this is without a frame of reference.

Definitely an interesting and thought-provoking read for sure!