Summary: Mia; her older brother, Simon; and their father, Mark, have been touring North Korea for the last week — something that is equally educational as it is dangerous. After she catches her father sneaking away in the middle of the night, he gets arrested, leaving Simon and Mia all alone in this dangerous foreign land. Now the siblings have to figure out how to put aside their differences in order to help rescue their father and make it back to America without being captured.
Review: The idea behind this story was EXCELLENT! Reading the synopsis, I was hooked. It sounded like a version of Hatchet survival story almost, just in more urban areas. Unfortunately, the story itself just dragged WAY too much for me to really connect with it. The main issue, in my opinion, that led to this was the amount of internal dialogue with Mia and herself. Personally, I didn’t really care about it at all and it added nothing for me.
Perhaps all of this boils down to the fact that I just didn’t like Mia. She was much too whiny and annoying. Like, we obviously get it… you’re scared, but GOD she was annoying! It was just constant victimization and essentially no helping herself to overcome her obstacles.
One of the things that I really liked in this book was the interludes of “chapters” from the point-of-view of a few different North Korean citizens. These mini chapters gave a lot of good insight into some of the brainwashing and rebellion that was happening in the country. It also provided excellent context for readers about what is happening in the country so that the readers can comprehend the story fully.
I did appreciate the opportunity that the author gave with this book to discuss race, identity, and privilege. Mia being adopted from South Korea and growing up with a white family caused some naturally difficult internal conflicts, and that was the one thing that I really liked about her narrating. Seeing these discussions from a first person point-of-view was eye-opening and would allow for some great discussions to be had.
The other thing that I really liked in this book was the sibling dynamic between Mia and Simon. I liked how naturally the author was able to build the tension in their relationship, eventually causing it boil over and them to explode. It felt like the dynamic between a real brother and sister and I appreciated how they had to hit the rock bottom before learning to work together rather than just having a picture perfect relationship from the start.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Recommended reader: Anyone who likes:
- Adventure
- Realistic Fiction
- Elements of historical fiction
- Sibling relationships
- North Korea
- Survival stories
- Internal conflict
- Adoption
- Asian-American protagonists
- Social justice
- Refugee by Alan Gratz
Discussion Questions:
- Why did the author choose to include the short chapters from North Korean citizens throughout the book? What insight did this provide readers? How did they help the story?
- What are some of the rules and regulations that North Korea’s leaders enforce upon their citizens? Why do you think the country is this way? Do all citizens support this way of life? What in the story told you this?
- How does Mia feel about her heritage and the way her family acknowledges it? How does she feel being Korean in America? How does she feel being Korean in North Korea? What theme could be learned from Mia’s feelings about this?
- What does Mia’s locket symbolize? How do you know this? How did she feel about losing it?
- How do Mia and Simon both grow individually as a result of their experience together? How does their relationship develop from this experience?
Specifics of the book:
- Genre: Adventure
- Lexile Level: 700L
- Accelerated Reader Level: 5.1 (13)
- Content Level: 6th
- Pages: 307
- Controversial Issues: None
Young Adult Lit Reviews 