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 Heartfelt Inspiring China Memoir Imperial Japan North Korea

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Critic reviews

"A pampered son of the elite survives a nightmarish ordeal in this page-turner of a memoir." ( Kirkus)
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Really gripped by his story and the telling of it. I knew nothing about North Korea before reading this book. Insightfull.

Loved this

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I can’t believe how much is going on in North Korea. I didn’t realise until I stumbled upon Yeonmi Park’s book first before I was searching up more defector stories and found this one. Sungju Lee has gone through hell. He is one of many North Koreans who are going through this day in day out. Beautifully written, this book has been gripping. South Korea is is a blessing for taking in defectors. Please do read and research on it. Thankyou for opening my eyes.

Be prepared to cry

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I have been interested in tales of life in North Korea since discovering Yeonmi Park on YouTube and subsequently listened to her audio book ‘In Order to Live’ I have since listened to other books on life in North Korea all of which describe a life filled with hardship and fear alien to many of us. I found Sungju Lee’s story so very emotional, I cried at the unbelievably cruel world in which he and other street children fought for survival and after finishing the book I find myself worrying about the brothers he left behind praying for their safety as well as the safe return of his mother.
Both the author and the narrator have done an incredible job of telling the story of Sungju’s life. Highly recommended.

Extremely Moving Story

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The story and the narration were both excellent. North Korea is a hidden world and this is a glimpse into the brutality of life for the street children there and gives something of an understanding into the way of thinking of North Korean people. It is shocking to realise that these events happened so easily and so recently, the main character and his gang of brothers will stay with me for a long time.

A shocking and beautifully told true story

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Every Falling Star provides an almost unbelievable account of SungJu's life in North Korea. I had to keep reminding myself that this is not fiction. What SungJu describes is not just the trauma and troubles that he went through personally, but the same trauma that so many North Koreans have faced, and continue to face, in their daily lives. One can only try to imagine the horror these people experience, and from such a young age, is extremely saddening.
I have to say that it is very well written, and is read perfectly by Shih.
The book made me feel so lucky to be have been born in the U.K., and has helped me to appreciate a lot of the things that I take for granted. It's also eye opening to the issues we still face in the modern world. I'd recommend this book to everyone, as I believe the book provides a perspective that is important for many to see.

A truly remarkable story

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For more reasons than I could list, this has to be the best story I have ever read or listened to. It is humbling, enchanting, enlightening, exciting… and SO much more. A story so appalling but strangely hope- filled and uplifting. You will be glad you listened👍😀😀

The highest recommendation…

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This book gives a different insight in to north korea then the others I have read. The life of a street kid is tougher then we can imagine. This book also contains loads of info into how North Koreans think. Great would recommend.

amazing story!

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This book is so so powerful. People should know those stories and I think we have to otherwise all those people who are still there, people who survived it are just lost. As we remember lots and lots of horrible things that people have done to each other, we have to remember that. It is very sad, and amazing at the same time how it’s real. It’s absolutely stunning to imagine that that is actually true, but even more sad to understand, to realise that for those people who are still in North Korea nothing has changed. They still die and suffer so so so much from the government, but as well as that, they are being fooled so much, and they have none idea about what is happening. Thank you for this book. It changed my way of thinking completely.

The fact it is a true story

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so good and acsiting yeah guys get this book

goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuys good as chocolate yes

good

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I have listened to several books about escaping North Korea. This book is the story of a group of boys and how they survived the appalling living conditions. The narrator of this story eventually leaves, but mainly this is a story of him and his friends staying alive, doing whatever they had to.
Excellent book.

Surviving in North Korea.

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