Every Falling Star cover art

Every Falling Star

The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea

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Every Falling Star

By: Sungju Lee, Susan McClelland
Narrated by: David Shih
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About this listen

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 12 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 recreates 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 listeners to learn about other cultures where freedoms they take for granted do not exist.

©2016 Sungju Lee (P)2016 Tantor Biographies History & Culture Politics, Society & Current Events Imperial Japan China Memoir North Korea

Critic Reviews

"A pampered son of the elite survives a nightmarish ordeal in this page-turner of a memoir." ( Kirkus)
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Probably the best book I have read all year and I implore you to read it. Not only well written and narrated but gave me an important insight into the lives of the North Koreans who suffer and whose lives deserve so much more. Thank you sungju Lee for giving us your story....

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This story is capturing from beginning to end - well written and performed! An eye opener about the terrible situation people in North Korea still experience.

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