Every Falling Star : The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea
The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea
Sungju Lee and Susan Elizabeth McClelland
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.
Sungju Lee holds a bachelor's of arts degree, majoring in political science and journalism from Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea. Sungju has spoken about his experiences and about current North Korean geo political and social issues across Asia and North America. He lives in South Korea, but is currently studying in Warwick, Coventry, UK until December 2016. Susan Elizabeth McClelland is an author and journalist. Bite of the Mango, her first book, became a worldwide hit and has been published in more than 30 countries and territories, and has won numerous awards.