BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED 
 Writer  Yongsoo  Park  is  recounting  
 what  life  was  like  for  him  and  
 his  immigrant  family  in  the  early  
 1980s  in Elmhurst  in his new memoir, 
   “Rated  R  Boy:  Growing  Up  Korean  
 in 1980s Queens.”  
 When  asked what  prompted  him  
 to  write  the  book,  Park  said,  “I  
 wrote the book in part to share what  
 my childhood was like with my two  
 children, whose lives are good but so  
 very different from mine.”  
 Park  and  his  family moved  from  
 South Korea  to  the United States  in  
 the  summer  of  1980. He  grew  up  in  
 a tenement on 80th Street kitty-corner  
 from  what  was  then  the  Leben  
 Home,  a  facility  to  house  the  many  
 patients  who’d  been  dumped  there  
 by the city’s psychiatric wards.  
 Park,  who  now  lives  in  Harlem,  
 attended  P.S.  12  in  Woodside  and  
 J.H.S.  125  in  Sunnyside.  Although  
 he  no  longer  lives  in  his  childhood  
 neighborhood,  the  love  he  has  for  
 Queens and the 1980s comes through  
 in  the  book,  which  chronicle’s  his  
 family’s first four years in America  
 and  the  struggles  they  endured  to  
 assimilate to life in their new home.  
 The  book  details  Park’s  travails  
 at  school,  where  he  often  felt  like  
 the class dunce before he learned to  
 speak English,  and  his  struggles  to  
 fit  in  in  the  social  hierarchy  of  the  
 mini children’s society on his block.  
 He describes having to learn to play  
 sports, specifically touch football, to  
 fit in. 
 “For  a  long  time,  I  didn’t  know  
 what a field goal was or that a touchdown  
 was  worth  six  points  and  
 not  seven,  which  was  how  we  kept  
 score,”  Park  said  in  his  book.  “It  
 would be a long while before I’d figure  
 out  that  the  football  we  played  
 was  a  watered-down  version  of  the  
 game on TV,  and  not  the  other  way  
 around.” 
 Another  chapter  describes  how  
 Park, a former Van Lier Fellow at the  
 Asian American Writers’ Workshop,  
 and  whose  previous  books  include  
 “Boy Genius” and “Las Cucarachas,”  
 (which were also set in Queens) frequented  
 the Jackson, a now-defunct  
 theater in Jackson Heights, and the  
 education he received from the movies  
 there at a young age.  
 The adventures that are described  
 in the memoir may seem startling to  
 children today, but the memoir is set  
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 in  a  different  era  before  the  advent  
 of digital technology when children  
 were  free  to  roam  about  freely,  according  
 to  Park.    Indeed,  Park  describes  
 children’s  life  in  the  early  
 1980s as one devoid of adults: 
 “When not riding bikes or rollerskating  
 up  and  down  the  block,  we  
 played kick-the-can, manhunt, stoop  
 ball,  red-light  green-light  one  two  
 three,  and  Johnny-the-pony,”  Park  
 said.  “Those  last  two  games  were  
 identical  to  games  I’d played  in Korea  
 and were a great comfort to me.  
 But kick-the-can soon became my favorite. 
   It  felt  wonderful  to  kick  the  
 can and send it flying, freeing everyone  
 who’d  been  caught  and making  
 whoever was it chase it down.” 
 According to Park, “Rated R Boy”  
 is  a  fast  read  and  vividly  brings  to  
 life a bygone era peopled with latchkey  
 kids  who  played  unsupervised  
 and even got into a scuffle or two. 
 “The memoir  will  be  enjoyed  by  
 everyone,  but  especially  by  those  
 who  remember  the  analog  world  
 when a slice of pizza could be bought  
 with a subway token and the fat Sunday  
 Times  cost  just  a  dollar,”  Park  
 said. 
 Park’s  memoir,  “Rated  R  Boy:  
 Writer Yongsoo Park is recounting what  
 life  was  like  for  him  and  his  immigrant  
 family in the early 1980s in Elmhurst in  
 his new memoir, “Rated R Boy: Growing  
 Up Korean in 1980s in Queens.”  
 Growing  up  Korean  in  1980s  
 Queens,”  is  available  on  Kindle  for  
 $1.99 and the paperback edition can  
 be purchased on Amazon for $6.  
 Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed  
 by  e-mail  at  cmohamed@schnepsmedia. 
 com  or  by  phone  at  (718)  260– 
 4526. 
 Photo courtesy of Yongsoo Park 
 Korean author publishes his memoir on  
 growing up in Queens before the digital age 
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