Book Summary: In early-19th-century Korea, after Sang-hee’s father injures his ankle, Sang-hee attempts to take over the task of lighting the evening fire, which signals to the palace that all is well. Includes historical notes.I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to learn about the fires set to inform the king that his provinces were safe each night, or to let him know that there was trouble and that he needed to send soldiers to help. Because of his father’s injury, it’s left to young Sang-hee to light the fire. The first night he is fascinated with the idea that if he doesn’t light the fire, the soldiers will come, and then he’ll be able to see the soldiers and share his life experiences with them. Two of his three coals are gone when he decides it’s more important to light the fire than to call out the soldiers on a false alarm. In the fire he imagines seeing the soldiers anyway. Until his father is healed, Sang-hee makes the nightly trek to light the fire at the top of the hill. I also really enjoyed the illustrations by Julie Downing in this book. The blues and purples of night are beautiful and make a great contrast to the browns and greens of day time.
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