Project Mulberry

Written by Linda Sue Park

Narrated by Mina Kim

Julia Song and her friend Patrick want to team up to win a blue ribbon at the state fair, but they can't agree on the perfect project. Then
Julia's mother suggests they raise silkworms as she did years ago in Korea. The optimistic twosome quickly realizes that raising silkworms is a lot tougher than they thought. And Julia never suspected that she'd be discussing the fate of her and Patrick's project with Ms. Park, the author of this book!


From the Trade Paperback edition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio
• Release date: Apr 26, 2005
• ISBN: 9780307245373

Linda Sue Park

Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medal winner for A Single Shard and #1 New York Times bestseller for A Long Walk to Water, is the renowned author of many books for young readers, including picture books, poetry, and historical and contemporary fiction. Born in Illinois, Ms. Park has also lived in California, England, and Ireland. She now lives in Western New York. Learn more at lindasuepark.com.

Reviews for Project Mulberry

[librarydanielle_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this one. it was a good middle school read.
a couple of things, Julia is supposed to be in 7th grade, and I didn't really get that impression. I thought 5th grade tops. but that isn't super integral to the story, so it doesn't matter much. the author/character intermissions. they jarred the flow of the story for me. some of the questions/answers/background information was neat, but it totally made things skip for me.

julia song is a korean-american kid living in white bread america. she feels like she isn't american enough and tries to acclimate more, which is both understandable and sad. she and her best friend patrick are in a farming club together at school. each year the club members come up with a natural project and enter them into a big science fair. they decide on animal husbandry. but then have trouble coming up with a project, until Julia's mom suggests growing silkworms and making silk thread. patrick loves the idea, but julia isn't sold...

[jenj5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Tons of curricular connections here: we've got science in several ways including life cycles and ecology, we've got the writing process, and we've got racial relationships. The treatment of race is particularly interesting because I don't think we see much in chidren's literature about the rocky relationships between different minorities - there are many books about specific minorities and their relationships to the dominant culture, but I can't recall many (or even any?) that address the interaction of multiple minorities as Project Mulberry addresses the relationships between Koreans and African-Americans. While I did find the many issues interesting, I think Park tried to cram a little too much in here - the story could end up getting lost in the myriad problems tackled. It does make a nice change that our heroine is not a fan of reading.

[nhritzuk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As I read this story, I became quite excited about the prospect of recommending this story as a read-aloud for Grade 4 and 5 classrooms. Silkworms are an important part of Korean culture for a couple of reasons. One, boiled silkworms are a treat. Two, embroidery is a traditional art practiced in Korea. The identity issue that our main character struggles with as a Korean living in the United States, is one that many of my students can identify with. I also enjoyed reading the dialogue between author and main character in different parts of the book.

[jepeters333 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Julia Song and her friend Patrick would love to win a blue ribbon, maybe even two, at the state fair. They've always done projects together and they work well as a team. This time though, they're having trouble finding the right plan. Then Julia's mother offers to share what she did when she was a girl.

[cnolasco_40 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Park, Linda Sue. (2007). Project Mulberry. New York: Clarion.Project Mulberry is about a girl named Julia and her best friend Patrick who are creating a project to enter into the local fair as part of their club, WGGL, which stands for Work-Grow-Give-Live! a local club that teaches kids about the importance of farming. They struggle with an idea for the project for a while because they both live in townhomes so they can't really raise a goat or a cow. Then Julia's mom comes up with the idea of raising silk worms just like she used to in Korea. Patrick likes the idea, but secretly Julia does not because she feels it is too Korean. Eventually Julia comes to terms with the project while learning something about herself and her heritage.This was a quick read and would be most suited for 4-6 graders (possibly even 7th grade). One aspect that was odd is that between each chapter, there is a two page dialogue between Julia, the main character, and Ms. Park, the author. They discuss things that just happened in the previous chapter and they also discuss some of the author's choices, i.e. "Why did you name me Julia?" the main character asks. I thought this was a bit odd and it broke up the story a little bit, but it also didn't seem like it fit. It would have made more sense if the story had been about a young girl who was writing something so she could get tips from the author. Other than the weird dialogue in between the chapters, the book was very realistic - the characters are believable as well as the emotions they go through.

[mrsdwilliams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Julia Song is uncomfortable with her Korean heritage and is desperate to fit in. So, when her mother suggests that she and her best friend, Patrick, raise silkworms for their science project, Julia agrees, but secretly hopes to sabotage the project. She would prefer something more "American." Through the course of the project, Julia learns to appreciate both her heritage and the friend she has in Patrick.

[knielsen83 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A cute book about two friends doing a project for their Wiggle club - an environmental club. Involves some hard moments where their friendship is on eggshells but also some witty dialogue between the main character and the author in between chapters.

[moonbridge · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book filled with tidbits of interesting and educational information, good kid conversation, some subplots. Readers learn how the author developed the book. Great read-aloud with both boy and girl main characters.

[abbylibrarian_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Julia's best friend Patrick wants to do a project on silkworms for their 4-H type club, Julia resists, thinking the idea is "too Korean". Patrick convinces her to do the project, but then they run into some unexpected obstacles. Julia starts to look at the world in a new way when she realizes that many of life's problems don't have easy answers, including her mom's prejudice towards an African-American man who's supplying the kids with mulberry leaves for their projects. Inserted between each chapter are "conversations" between the author and the main character which reveal some of the "inside story" behind the writing of the book. An interesting read about friendship and a myriad of other topics (race, agriculture, the environment).

[maya697 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not the best, but really good

[ethelmertz_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book tackles a lot of subjects and themes, not all of which were addressed to my satisfaction. The book became preachy at times, and I didn't really enjoy the intrachapters, discussions with Park and the main character.

[swimmer_shark · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book a lot, because of the conflict, and the way she lives. The conflict is that Patrick wants to do project mulberry but Julia doesn't. The way she lives,(like me) is sort of unfair. For example, Kenny bothers her but he doesn't get in much trouble, but when Julia bothers Kenny, She gets in BIG trouble. It's like me and my brother.

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Julia and Patrick are working on a school project. Raising silkworms is suggested by Julia's mother. She resists the idea because to her it seems to be "too Korean". In the process of the project she learns there is value in her heritage. Interesting, charming read.

[Armando Torres · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked all about this book however i signed in and could not listen to it.

[supendleton · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Jules, a sixth grade Korean-American girl, and her friend, Patrick, work together on a state fair science project - raising silkworms. Jules does not want to raise silkworms because she feels the project calls attention to her background. However, as the worms start to grow, Jules becomes more involved in the project and probably a little too invested in the well-being of the silkworms. The book also brings up prejudice and racism - Jules' mom does not like her to spend time at the neighbor's house when she is collecting the mulberry leaves and Jules believes it may be because Mr. Dixon is black. I wish she had confronted her mom, but she never does. The only complaint I have about the book is the intrusion of the author- throughout the book the protagonist has brief conversations with the author. An interesting idea but it made the book feel choppy for me. A good book for 4-6th graders, girls especially.

[scrane4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed reading this book. What I liked about the book was that it was written in first person and there was factual information. Julia, one of the main characters in the book discussed her thoughts which made it intriguing. For example, Julia discussed the thoughts of her mother being racists to Mr. Dixon. Her insight as of why her mother might of been upset when her and Patrick were running late, helped explain her mothers actions further. The way the author organized the story to discuss factual information about silkworms was great. Patrick was the source of all the information about silkworms which made it lively and interesting. For example, Patrick had to explain to Julia the way that silk is made is by boiling the cocoons of silkworms. He went on to discuss how even though they die they're not in any pain while being boiled. Overall, this book had many messages. I think the most important being to embrase your culture and who you are.

[kwisem1-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In my opinion, this is a fantastic book to read! The title had me interested from the beginning to find out what exactly Project Mulberry was. The language was very clear and in between each chapter there is a mini dialogue section between the main character and the author. It really makes you laugh at some of the things Julia (one of the main characters) says to Ms. Park. The characters were as real and believable, as if I was living the whole story in front of me. I am not a science book type of person, but this book was not just science, it was traditions, friendships, etc. I enjoyed this story and would recommend it to anyone. The big idea of the story is about the project of the mulberry leaves that Julia and Patrick want to use to spin wool.There were quite a few big messages I could name but the most important is do not let little arguments ruin a friendship or science project. They still were able to pull through and complete it and win 2nd place.

[jessotto · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

 I liked this book because not only did it exemplify the tough work it takes to do well, but it also hit on some disagreements that can occur in a friendship. Julia and Patrick meet when Julia moves to a townhouse in the neighborhood- they were instantly friends! Patrick came over to Julias house everyday, where he usually did homework and always had a bite of kimichee. I would say this book also treads softly on different races. Well, both Patrick and Julia decide to take on the task of creating their own silk by growing and feeding their own silkworms. They find Mr. Dixon, a black man, that lends his Mulberry tree to the duo so they can feed their silkworms. Julia goes back and forth on if she wants to do the project and Patrick ends up having a huge phobia of worms! Julias mother never does quite come around to being open to the duo hanging out with Mr. Dixon. But, Kenny eventually comes around and isn't as big of a "snotbrain" than Julia had originally thought. A well written book and leaves you waiting to see what happens next