Starred Review ALA Booklist (Wed Jul 05 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Starred Review Part sequel, part companion to Lee's debut, this story centers on Myung-gi, close friend of Sora, the protagonist of Brother's Keeper (2020). Myung-gi is intelligent and a dreamer, due in no small part to his father, the principal of the local boy's school. Then the Communist regime takes over North Korea, ushering in an era of social and intellectual oppression. On the eve of his family's planned flight to the south, Myung-gi's father is captured by soldiers loyal to Kim Il-sung. The boy blames himself for his father's fate, as he was supposed to be keeping watch. Forced to leave their home, Myung-gi tamps down his guilt and focuses on getting his mother and sister safely to a refugee camp in Busan. Afterward, however, he enlists in the army in order to return to the north to find and free his father. Once again, Lee brings readers to the beginnings of the North Korean Communist regime. Myung-gi is an intriguing main character whose self-loathing and guilt alienate him from others. Yet, his earnest yearning to be as strong and virtuous as his absent father draws the reader in, allowing them to sympathize with his existential plight. This is an absolute must-read for those who have already read Brother's Keeper and a heart-wrenching meditation on family bonds and the responsibilities they entail.

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Mon Apr 03 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

A South Korean boy longs to rescue his father imprisoned in North Korea.It's 1952, and 16-year-old Myung-gi has joined the South Korean army in hopes of finding Ahpa, who was taken by North Korean soldiers two years prior. He's trapped in a tunnel at the North-South Korean border, and as he waits for what seems like inevitable death, flashbacks transport him to the events that led to this moment. He recalls his family's joy when Korea was liberated from Japanese imperial rule in 1945-and their despair as American and Soviet troops moved in and divided up the peninsula. His family ended up on the communist side. Myung-gi's father smuggled in Western books for him to read and committed other quiet acts of resistance before he was taken. His mother reminds him and his younger sister of his father's wish should he be arrested: They must undertake the dangerous journey hundreds of miles south to Busan, South Korea, and await him there. The family encounters numerous horrors along the way. Myung-gi's PTSD-in which nothing feels real and all that is familiar is rendered strange-rings entirely true, as does his prolonged grief over losing his father. Nuanced details about the immediate aftermath of World War II in northern Korea, with fraying political alliances, growing tensions among formerly friendly neighbors, and welcome pockets of ordinary life, shed much-needed light on this time in history.A gripping story about family, war, mourning, and resilience told with emotion and heart. (Historical fiction. 9-14)

Horn Book (Thu Sep 07 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

This companion novel to Lee's Brother's Keeper tells the story of Kim Myung-gi and his family from the end of Japan's occupation of Korea through Russia's invasion to the start of the Korean War. The narrative begins harrowingly in 1952 with the war underway and sixteen-year-old Myung-gi, a North Korean soldier, trapped in a collapsed tunnel. Chapters alternate between his desperate attempts to escape and flashbacks beginning in 1945 when he is nine. (The shifts in time are clearly indicated at the start of each chapter.) When it becomes too dangerous to stay in their village, the family makes plans to flee south to Busan, but Communist soldiers abduct Myung-gi's father before they can leave -- and Myung-gi blames himself. Their mother decides they will follow through with the plan to escape; their journey is fraught with peril. Ultimately, Myung-gi is rescued from the tunnel; an epilogue told from his father's point of view, thirty-five years after the war, encapsulates the scope of loss for this family. Lee's vivid, visceral writing provides readers with an unflinching story of war and survival as well as an intimate look at everyday life for Koreans caught up in geo-political forces over which they have no control. Few books for young readers grapple with the Korean War from this perspective; it's an important story to tell, but the bleakness and emphasis on trauma make for a dark and intense read. Kitty Flynn

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A South Korean boy longs to rescue his father imprisoned in North Korea.It's 1952, and 16-year-old Myung-gi has joined the South Korean army in hopes of finding Ahpa, who was taken by North Korean soldiers two years prior. He's trapped in a tunnel at the North-South Korean border, and as he waits for what seems like inevitable death, flashbacks transport him to the events that led to this moment. He recalls his family's joy when Korea was liberated from Japanese imperial rule in 1945-and their despair as American and Soviet troops moved in and divided up the peninsula. His family ended up on the communist side. Myung-gi's father smuggled in Western books for him to read and committed other quiet acts of resistance before he was taken. His mother reminds him and his younger sister of his father's wish should he be arrested: They must undertake the dangerous journey hundreds of miles south to Busan, South Korea, and await him there. The family encounters numerous horrors along the way. Myung-gi's PTSD-in which nothing feels real and all that is familiar is rendered strange-rings entirely true, as does his prolonged grief over losing his father. Nuanced details about the immediate aftermath of World War II in northern Korea, with fraying political alliances, growing tensions among formerly friendly neighbors, and welcome pockets of ordinary life, shed much-needed light on this time in history.A gripping story about family, war, mourning, and resilience told with emotion and heart. (Historical fiction. 9-14)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

This moving historical novel from Lee (Brother’s Keeper) opens in October 1952, centering bookish Myung-gi, who has joined the South Korean army in order to find his Ahpa. After an explosion traps 16-year-old Myung-gi in an enemy tunnel at the North-South Korean border, alternating chapters trace both his present awaiting death in the tunnel and past experiences beginning in 1945. Emotional third-person narration recounts Myung-gi’s family’s reaction to historical events, including the feeling of freedom at the end of Japan’s imperial rule and rising tensions between Soviet-occupied northern Korea, where the family lives, and U.S.-occupied southern Korea. Ahpa’s criticism of the occupying governments, his smuggling in Western books for Myung-gi, and his previous role as a factory owner necessitates the family’s departure from their home to Busan. Myung-gi’s father is taken by the Red Army before the family can execute their planned escape, however, and Myung-gi, younger sister Yoomee, and their Uhma must make a harrowing journey south to Busan alone, to avoid Myung-gi’s recruitment. Interspersed between harrowing scenes of travel and remembrances of Myung-gi’s father are the youth’s thoughtful ruminations on the human cost of war. Lee compassionately depicts the difficult journey and Myung-gi’s grappling with finding normalcy in this well-paced story about an underreported war. Ages 8–12. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (May)

School Library Journal (Mon May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Gr 5 Up— Set in the 1950s, Lee's latest novel offers readers a glimpse of the brutal personal impacts of the Korean War. Myung-gi is 16—too young to go to war, and yet he's carrying a rifle, fighting in a conflict that's tearing families apart all across the country. He shouldn't be there at all. He loves books and reading, the sound of language flowing off the page, but he's come to the 38th parallel to find his father, Ahpa, who was taken by the secret police. This vivid, powerful title uses Myung-gi's story to give readers a firsthand glimpse of the political and military turmoil in mid—20th-century Korea. The book vividly captures the disorientation and longing of a young man who finds himself cut off from his home, his family, and his dreams for the future. Through flashbacks, Lee shows how her characters reassemble the pieces of their lives to create a new, more hopeful story. VERDICT This companion novel to Brother's Keeper is recommended for readers of historical fiction—particularly fiction that deals with themes of war, trauma, and disconnection.— Talea Anderson