Works included in the 2022 revised curriculum (Middle School Korean Language 1-1)
1998 Boston Globe Horn Book Award Winner
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of its domestic publication
Newly translated special edition

"Francisco's Butterfly" is a coming-of-age novel based on the real-life experiences of Francisco Jimenez, who is considered an excellent modern writer in the Mexican cultural sphere.
This novel, published in the United States in 1997, won the Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Fiction, a world-renowned literary award in the children's and young adult literature field, the following year in 1998.
It was also selected as one of the 'Best Books by the American Library Association'.
The reason this book has won numerous literary awards and been selected for the Best Book Award and has received praise from many readers is because it beautifully and realistically portrays human rights, diversity, and family love, which are considered more important than anything else in American society, which is called a “nation of immigrants.”


Even though more than 20 years have passed, the message this story gives us still remains powerful.
This is because the values ​​of ‘cultural diversity,’ ‘equality rather than discrimination,’ and ‘understanding rather than hatred and prejudice’ are becoming increasingly important in our society today.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first domestic publication, a special edition (revised 2nd edition) with new translation, editing, and design was published.
『Francisco's Butterfly』 has been recommended by various domestic media outlets, including Booktase and Hanuri.
It was also included in the 'Middle School Korean Language 1-1 Textbook according to the 2022 Revised Curriculum'.

When I was young, I often heard the word 'border'.

--- From the text

Dad and Mom sat Roberto and me down in front of them and told us that one day our family would have to make the long journey north, 'crossing the border', to California, USA.
Only then can we escape this poverty that seems to have no end in sight.
(Omitted) My father always stood up straight, puffed out his chest, and said this.
“Once we cross the border, our family will be happy in California!”
--- pp.11-12

As night fell, we left the village where people lived and continued walking for several kilometers.
Dad walked ahead toward the barbed wire fence, stopping every so often to look around to see if anyone was watching us.
We continued walking cautiously along the barbed wire fence.
Finally, Dad found a small hole under the barbed wire, knelt down, and began to widen the hole with his bare hands.
Our family crawled through the hole one by one.
I felt like I had become a snake.

--- p.17

While my father, mother, and brother walked into the cotton fields, I would climb up onto the roof of the kalkachita and stand on tiptoe, watching the three of them until they were no longer visible among the other workers.
When my family completely disappeared from my sight, I felt a strange pain in my heart.
It was always like that when he left me and Trampita behind.

--- pp.23-24

One day, on the shelf right in front of the caterpillar, I found a book full of pictures of butterflies and caterpillars.
I turned each page, examining the photos closely, and gently touched the plump bodies of caterpillars, the bright wings of butterflies, and the countless patterns on their bodies with my fingers.
I knew that caterpillars turn into butterflies because my brother had told me about it before, but I still wanted to know a little more.
The large, gothic-letter English letters beneath each photo were clearly descriptions of caterpillars and butterflies.
I stared at the pictures and wondered what the letters meant.
I closed my eyes tightly and opened them again and again to look at the letters, but in the end I couldn't make anything out.

--- p.37

Just before the final bell rang to signal the end of class that day, Mr. Scalapino took a glass bottle and led the class out to the playground.
As the teacher put the glass bottle on the ground, we all gathered around him.
It was the first time I had seen the children in my class become so united.
Mr. Scalapino called me over and gestured for me to open the lid of the glass bottle.
I pushed my way through the children, knelt on the ground, and carefully opened the bottle cap.
Then, as if by magic, the butterfly flew into the air, flapping its wings up and down.

--- p.43-44