As such, I feel like this book is a must read for people of all ages as it has the unique power to educate a population and to fight ignorance.Īnother highlight of Every Falling Star is the characters and the relationships that develop. Every Falling Star provides some light on the manner and shatters many misconceptions I had about North Korea and its people, starting with the fact that all of its citizens are happy or at least satisfied with their government.

I think for many people, North Korea is shrouded in mystery. Every Falling Star was a big eye opener for me. I really like the way Every Falling Star is told and how it is written to target children and young adults.

Still, the novel left me with the distinct impression that while some events may have been exaggerated (it is told from a child’s perspective, after all), they did indeed happen. It contains many aspects of dystopian novels and has more similarities with The Hunger Games than with The Life of George Washington. The novel is about Sungju’s childhood in North Korea from when he was roughly eleven to sixteen years old and covers what he had to go through in order to survive and how he escaped the country.Įvery Falling Star tells a deep and powerful story, but some of the events that happen feel like they push the boundaries of reality. It’s a memoir written by Sungju Lee, a North Korean defector, with help from Susan Elizabeth McClelland. The Longer VersionĮvery Falling Star is an interesting read in many regards. Powerful, educational, sometimes choppy story. This riveting memoir allows young readers to learn about other cultures where freedoms they take for granted do not exist. 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. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting, begging, and stealing rides on cargo trains. TITLE: Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North KoreaĪUTHOR: Sungju Lee, Susan Elizabeth McClellandĮvery 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. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. I received this book for free from NetGalley, ABRAMS Kids in exchange for an honest review.

Every falling star by sungju lee