Wandering Swallow Parent/Teacher Supplement Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Psalm 84:3.
Dear Parents and Teachers,
I’m hoping you find Wandering Swallow, A Young Girl’s Quest for Freedom an enjoyable learning experience for your children/students. Along with helping students achieve automaticity in reading through engagement with the story, I also wanted to give them a peek into the culture and history of Korea and China.
Hana’s journey is more than a quest for food. It’s a soul journey. Satan often attacks our souls through our bodies. Hana has to pretend to be a boy so she will avoid the fate so many young North Korean females have faced in their search for freedom.
Over the years of the one-child rule (1979-2015), girls (as well as handicapped boys) often suffered abortion or abandonment. In Eastern culture, if parents are only allowed one offspring, they want sons.
Because of the rule, China experienced a shortage of women for men to marry. Girls like Hana are often sold into forced marriages or prostitution. I avoided making explicit references to this danger because I want to allow parents to decide how, when, and to what degree they need to explain sexual trafficking to their children.
Over the course of the story, we meet three characters with Down syndrome. Jinsique’s role mirrors the life of Baby Doe who was born with Down syndrome and esophageal atresia, a condition in which his esophagus did not connect to his stomach. A simple surgery would have resolved the issue, but his parents did not give permission.
It took Baby Doe seven days to die of starvation.
Because of the one-child rule, baby Jinsique’s life would have been in peril (before or after birth) regardless of a Down syndrome diagnosis. The care Jinsique receives in the book is what I would hope every child would know.
The history included throughout the book comes from some of the sources listed below and several conversations over years with one of the massacre survivors, Shengde Lian. Lian was one of the student-organizers of the protest and provided much of the insight Lừ ké gives to Hana at the Square. I had the blessing of interviewing him for a couple of articles I wrote as a reporter and independently.
Much of the plot of my book alludes to Elijah’s experience with wind, earthquake, and fire before he hears the still small voice (I Kings 19). May all our readers hear that voice in their own journeys following Christ.
Wandering Swallow is a tribute to young and old who dared to protest the CCP, those who defied the tyrants of North Korea, and a reminder to America, as John Philpot Curran stated, “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance.”
Thank you for your interest in Wandering Swallow.
Milico Mathers
Further Reading and Viewing for Teachers and Parents: (Parental discretion advised for some works)
Shared Hope International and Report | regenerate are Christian anti-trafficking organizations.
The Beautiful Blessing of Down Syndrome – Christian Parenting
From Ignorance to Bliss: God’s Heart Revealed through Down Syndrome by Annie Yorty | Goodreads
Local Support | National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS)
China’s one-child policy hangover: Scarred women dismiss Beijing’s pro-birth agenda | CNN
History, North Korea ‑ South Korea, Nuclear Weapons, President | HISTORY
United States Institute of Peace, The Politics of Famine in North Korea | United States Institute of Peace (usip.org)
In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey for Freedom, Yeonmi Park, 2016.
A Thousand Miles to Freedom: My Escape from North Korea, Eunsun Kim, with Sabastien Falletti, 2016.
“Hong Kong’s Next Yellow Bird,” Taipei Times, Chu Ming-hon, June 27, 2020.
A Chinese Odyssey: The Life and Times of a Chinese Dissident, Anne F. Thurston, 1991.
Why Did Stalin Support the Start of the Korean War? | HISTORY
Operation Yellow Bird, Amazon Prime Video, Watch Operation Yellow Bird | Prime Video (amazon.com).
Dragon Seed by Pearl S. Buck | Goodreads
The Good Earth (House of Earth, #1) by Pearl S. Buck | Goodreads
One Child Nation movie review (2019) | Roger Ebert Respecting Chinese Culture:
The Example of Hudson Taylor, Part One — Global China Center
All scriptures quoted within the text come from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the entities I have mentioned. Restoring the Shattered is published through Morgan James Publishing with whom I do share a material connection. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
