Tag Archives: North Korea

Review: Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee

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Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee

Brother’s Keeper
Julie Lee
Holiday House
Published July 21, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Brother’s Keeper

North Korea. December, 1950.

Twelve-year-old Sora and her family live under an iron set of rules: No travel without a permit. No criticism of the government. No absences from Communist meetings. Wear red. Hang pictures of the Great Leader. Don’t trust your neighbors. Don’t speak your mind. You are being watched.

But war is coming, war between North and South Korea, between the Soviets and the Americans. War causes chaos–and war is the perfect time to escape. The plan is simple: Sora and her family will walk hundreds of miles to the South Korean city of Busan from their tiny mountain village. They just need to avoid napalm, frostbite, border guards, and enemy soldiers.

But they can’t. And when an incendiary bombing changes everything, Sora and her little brother Young will have to get to Busan on their own. Can a twelve-year-old girl and her eight-year-old brother survive three hundred miles of war zone in winter?

My Review

As I started to read BROTHER’S KEEPER, I worried about how dark it would be. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to handle it. And I won’t lie, some scenes were hard because they were so heartbreaking.

What I loved, though, was Sora’s resourcefulness and her will to survive. I loved her love for books and stories and the hope she continually kindled inside of her that she would see her family again.

BROTHER’S KEEPER doesn’t shy away from the ugliness of war. But through the struggles and bitter coldness of winter, the love between Sora and her brother and their hope for the future shine so brightly. I’m so glad I read this book.

If you like raw, gripping historical novels by Ruta Sepetys (though those are aimed at a slightly older audience) or EVERY FALLING STAR by Sunju Lee and Elizabeth McClelland, please check out BROTHER’S KEEPER.

Content Notes for Brother’s Keeper

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
All named characters are North or South Korean.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Sora and her family are Christians. They’ve been forbidden to practice their faith but have a Bible hidden in their home.

Violent Content
Some descriptions of civilians, including children being shot or bombed. One very brief scene shows domestic violence. In one scene, two children fall through the ice into a freezing river and die.

Drug Content
Some mentions of adults drinking alcohol.

Note: I received a free copy of BROTHER’S KEEPER in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog.

Review: Every Falling Star by Sungju Lee and Susan Elizabeth McClelland

Book Review and Content, Memoir, Nonfiction, , , , ,

Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea
Sunju Lee and Susan Elizabeth McClelland
Amulet Books
Published September 13, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Every Falling Star

EVERY FALLING STAR, the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is the intense memoir of a North Korean boy named Sungju who is forced at age twelve to live on the streets and fend for himself. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting, begging, and stealing rides on cargo trains. Sungju richly re-creates his scabrous story, depicting what it was like for a boy alone to create a new family with his gang, his “brothers”; to be hungry and to fear arrest, imprisonment, and even execution. This riveting memoir allows young readers to learn about other cultures where freedoms they take for granted do not exist.

My Review

Intense is a great word for this book. I’ve seen a couple of documentaries about North Korea, but nothing is more personal and moving than the story of someone who lived there. Sungju describes his early life in Pyongyang and the fierce national pride he felt for his country. His beliefs are challenged when his family is forced to leave the capital for a small impoverished city where food shortages cause many people to risk trips into China—an offense punishable by execution if they’re caught.

While EVERY FALLING STAR is a difficult story, Sungju shares so much hope. Ultimately it’s a story about the bonds of love, both within family and between close friends, and redemption. To read the end of the tale and learn what the author has accomplished can’t help but be inspiring, and to make us grateful for the freedoms we have, and the ability to share them with others.

I highly recommend this book. EVERY FALLING STAR was so good, would read it again. It would make a great resource for a current events class or a world cultures class.

Cultural Elements
Most characters are North Korean.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
At one point, the boys work as runners for a brothel, helping recruit customers.

Spiritual Content
A few references to Chilseong, a deity and shan-shin-ryong-nim, good spirits thought to live in rocks and mountains. Sungju’s family shared these beliefs with him and they bring him comfort during his life as a street boy.

Violent Content
Sungju and his schoolmates have to attend public executions. Sungju describes them briefly. Later, his gang must battle other street boys for the right to stay in a particular city.

Drug Content
The boys in the street gang drink alcohol and smoke.

Note: This post contains affiliate links which do not cost you anything to use but which help support my blog. I received a free copy of EVERY FALLING STAR in exchange for my honest review.