The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi is a story of a little girl name Unhei that has just moved to the United States from Korea with her family. Unhei is starting school and decides that her name is too different from the other kids and wants an American name so that she can fit in. Joey, a little boy in her classroom, decides to help along with the rest of the kids in her class. They come up with something known as the name jar. Every day, the students place little slips of paper with names written on them into the jar. These are names that Unhei can look through and try out until she decides on a new name. Unhei misses her Grandmother terribly, but she has the name stamp that her grandmother had given her that helps her ease the pain. Her grandmother and mother went to a name master to get her name, which in Korean means "grace". As Unhei searches for a new name, there just doesn't ever seem to be one that fits. Through her search for a new name, there is constant reinforcement that the name she was given by her parents is the best name for her. Her new found friend, Joey, ends up being the biggest supporter of her Korean name and helps her to realize that she should keep it. I think that this is a fantastic story for kids to read. It is one of my favorite books. This book not only introduces the ideas of multiculturalism in the classrooms but also a common experience that most children at this age have- the desire to be called something else. I know from personal experience that I wanted to change my name when I was little. I did not like having the double name- I wanted to be called just Mary or then just Blake, but after a few days of that, I came home and told my mom that I wanted to be called Mary Blake again. It seems to be something that all kids go through for some reason. As I got older I realized the meaning that my name had and why I was given that name. I think that this book shows kids that there is more to choosing a name than just pulling it out of a jar. There are so many different opportunities to teach lessons from this book. In kindergarten, the kids are just learning to spell and write their names. What a wonderful idea to get them to go home and find out what the story is behind their name or if there is no story then to find out what their name actually means. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think it is a great read for whoever reads it and I will definitely be sharing it in my classroom.