Reviews

“Congratulations on releasing your recent memoir; you have my best wishes for a successful publication. Please know I remain grateful for your commitment to community service and businesswomen’s mentorship. I appreciate your offer of assistance and will share your interest with my staff. It is my hope you will continue to stay involved in your community and look forward for every opportunity to help fellow women business leaders find their way to success.

~Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

“It requires more than soaring prose writing to produce a wonder such as White Pearl and I. Svetlana Kim and her book are one and the same. The passion, willpower, resilience, humor and abiding faith expressed on the pages are the same qualities found in Ms. Kim. Here is a book to remind us all of the powerful call of America across the oceans and to be better people and not take all that we have for granted. I’m a better person because of fellow writer Svetlana Kim.”

–Ron Powers, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Mark Twain: A Life. With James Bradley, he co-wrote the 2000 #1 New York Times Bestseller Flags of Our Fathers
Senator Edward M. Kennedy collaborated with Ron Powers to complete a cherished and more personal project: True Compass: A Memoir. 

“A political refugee who escaped communism and came to America with just a dollar in her pocket and not a word of English in her vocabulary, Svetlana Kim will take away your excuse for not making the most of your potential. Follow her basic roadmap; the willingness to give of yourself and focus on providing value to others, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by friends who love you and a huge increase in income.”

– Bob Burg, Bestselling co-author of The Go-Giver and Go-Givers Sell More
www.burg.com

“Enlightening and entertaining… All at the same time! Svetlana writes with vivid emotion, humor, and hard-hitting and uplifting messages. White Pearl and I is a story of love, perseverance, persistence, and happiness as well as meaning and a sense of purpose.”

– Grand Master Jhoon Rhee, American Tae Kwon Do Founding Father and Martial Arts Instructor for Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali
www.jhoonrhee.com

“Profound. Provocative. Moving. Prepare to be inspired as you read this page-turning story that showcases what can happen when you face life with initiative, determination and above all, a commitment to excel and serve others. Read it and reap.”

– Sam Horn, Author of Tongue Fu! and POP! and Create the Perfect Pitch, Title and Tagline for Anything
www.samhorn.com

“Told with honest simplicity and delightfully innocent humor, the plot of White Pearl and I reads a bit like a fairy tale. There is a sort of ogre, a few white knights and fairy godmothers, as well as a heroine who, armed with little more than great courage, good luck and a protective aura from her ancestors, triumphs. But this ogre, these knights and magic-makers, and most of all, this heroine surpass their fictional counterparts because they are real. All of it actually happened, which not only makes the author, Svetlana Kim, worth reading, but also worth knowing.

“And like the wondrous fairy tales we were fed as children, this one, too, has a deeper meaning. It is not only an amazing memoir about a penniless Korean-Russian immigrant making her way in America, it is also a testament to what is great and noble about this country. It shows us at our best – a place and a people willing to embrace and empower someone who works hard to educate herself, find meaning for herself and take advantage of the opportunities offered her. And for me, that’s a whole lot better than happily ever after.”

– Simon T. Bailey, Author of Release Your Brilliance
www.simontbailey.com

“The book is inspiring and interesting as an historical document as well as an autobiography. We have read many immigrant stories coming from Europe but never one from the Soviet Union and never from a Korean perspective. Svetlana’s strength–and, at the same time, sentimental attachment to her grandmother’s memory– is a reminder of the need of family support and identity. It should be very meaningful to all the Korean refugees as well as for all of us building a new identity in our new country.”

–Philanthropist Eva Haller, with Oprah Winfrey, on the Schools Initiative and Free the Children

“This is a book in which a reader can live in America and travel to Russia… It reads like a novel. It grabs your attention from the very first sentence.”

– Dame Loula Loi Alafoyiannis, Founder, Euro-American Women’s Council
www.eawc.org 

“As a diplomat for Korea, I have shared many of my countrymen’s experiences and journeys they have taken and their hardships and successes when I served my country in the US, Middle East, South America and Asia. Svetlana and her babushka‘s tale that enfolds in the White Pearl and I profoundly illustrates the essence of the Korean people’s character – persistence, hard working, ‘never say never’ attitude, willpower, strong family values and living for the next generation – surviving and flourishing in places you least expect. I have often shared with my children and family my amazement when I encounter Koreans in the remotest part of the world and how they all seemed to have managed in their own way to better their lives and establish a strong foundation for the generations to come. In this ever-growing global world, I am glad that stories such as White Pearl and I are being told and shared both with Koreans, both in Korea and abroad, and others in the global community because I believe we as global citizens have more in common than differences as we continue our life’s journey.”

– Ambassador Chong-Yul Moon

“This is Svetlana Kim’s masterpiece… the book is a masterpiece and so is her extraordinary life! Kim exhibits respect for her past brought forward with contemporary overlays. If you want to know about perseverance and courage culminating in success and happiness, then read this. Kim embraces a richness of culture without forgetting the price of a rich personal history.”

– Phebe Phillips, Creatrice of exquisite soft toys and author of Kitty Pink Pink “A World of Change”
www.phebephillips.com 

“Dare to dream – that is what Svetlana Kim teaches us in her book. White Pearl and I is full of inspiring stories and cultural history. This book is an important account of Soviet-Korean history, never before told from a first-person perspective. Kim has artfully woven this important, but relatively unknown, part of history in to her tale of hope and determination for a better life.”

-Dr. Eileen R. Borris, Author of Finding Forgiveness

“A laugh-and-cry true story… Kim’s memory of returning to the values of her Russian-Korean babushka, White Pearl, is heartbreaking and inspiring. I hope that everyone will read this extraordinary book.”

– Quinn Dalton, Author of Bulletproof Girl and Stories from the Afterlife
www.quinndalton.com 

“An extraordinary, personal account about an unknown history of people displaced by the great political events of the twentieth century. Svetlana Kim’s White Pearl and I is a true human drama which adds greatly to our understanding of the legacy of forced migration and cultural birth.”

– Y. David Chung, Film director, and co-producer of Koryo Saram: The Unreliable People  Winner Best Documentary National Film Board of Canada
www.davidchung.com

“Lana Kim’s persona and carriage belie the experiences of dislocation and struggles that she went through as a Soviet refugee arriving in America. Today, in the bustle of the nation’s capital, Lana projects the strength, courage and aspirations of a leader, able to persuade, motivate and inspire others. Her vision is clear: that she must serve her fellowmen. The memories and values imparted by the most influential woman in her life, her grandmother, have sustained her daily life.  Lana offers her friendship to all and those who have been touched by her presence in their lives have been inspired to follow her lead.”

– Reme Grefalda, Former Librarian/Curator Asian Pacific American Collection, The Library of Congress

“By the way, I have been reading your book since the day you gave the book to me. Very well written and I can see a little girl with a short bang from different pages. Some time, I feel aching – maybe because it is my ancestors’ stories – Korean. Other times, I can see my grandma, too. Thanks for giving me a chance to know you better by publishing your book.”

– Sonya Sungeui Lee, Korean section, Asian Division, The Library of Congress