WINNER OF THE FREEMAN BOOK AWARD!

North Korea. December, 1950.

Twelve-year-old Sora and her family live under an iron set of rules: No travel without a permit. No criticism of the government. No absences from Communist meetings. Wear red. Hang pictures of the Great Leader. Don't trust your neighbors. Don't speak your mind. You are being watched.

But war is coming, war between North and South Korea, between the Soviets and the Americans. War causes chaos--and war is the perfect time to escape. The plan is simple: Sora and her family will walk hundreds of miles to the South Korean city of Busan from their tiny mountain village. They just need to avoid napalm, frostbite, border guards, and enemy soldiers.

But they can't. And when an incendiary bombing changes everything, Sora and her little brother Young will have to get to Busan on their own. Can a twelve-year-old girl and her eight-year-old brother survive three hundred miles of warzone in winter?

Haunting, timely, and beautiful, this harrowing novel from a searing new talent offers readers a glimpse into a vanished time and a closed nation.

A Jane Addams Children's Book Award Finalist
An ILA Intermediate Fiction Award Winner
An American Library Association Notable Children's Book
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year

Will ultimately be recognized as one of the best books... on the Korean War.--Education About Asia, the Association for Asian Studies

WINNER OF THE FREEMAN BOOK AWARD!

North Korea. December, 1950.

Twelve-year-old Sora and her family live under an iron set of rules: No travel without a permit. No criticism of the government. No absences from Communist meetings. Wear red. Hang pictures of the Great Leader. Don't trust your neighbors. Don't speak your mind. You are being watched.

But war is coming, war between North and South Korea, between the Soviets and the Americans. War causes chaos--and war is the perfect time to escape. The plan is simple: Sora and her family will walk hundreds of miles to the South Korean city of Busan from their tiny mountain village. They just need to avoid napalm, frostbite, border guards, and enemy soldiers.

But they can't. And when an incendiary bombing changes everything, Sora and her little brother Young will have to get to Busan on their own. Can a twelve-year-old girl and her eight-year-old brother survive three hundred miles of warzone in winter?

Haunting, timely, and beautiful, this harrowing novel from a searing new talent offers readers a glimpse into a vanished time and a closed nation.

A Jane Addams Children's Book Award Finalist
An ILA Intermediate Fiction Award Winner
An American Library Association Notable Children's Book
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year

Will ultimately be recognized as one of the best books... on the Korean War.--Education About Asia, the Association for Asian Studies

Myung-gi knows war is coming: War between North and South Korea. Life in communist North Korea has become more and more unbearable--there is no freedom of speech, movement, association, or thought--and his parents have been carefully planning the family's escape.

But when his father is abducted by the secret police, all those plans fall apart. How can Myung-gi leave North Korea without his dad? Especially when he believes that the abduction was his fault?

Set during a cataclysmic war which shaped the world we know today, this is the story of one boy's coming-of-age during a time when inhumanity, lawlessness, and terror reigned supreme. Myung-gi, his mother, and his twelve-year-old sister Yoomee do everything they can to protect one another. But gentle, quiet, bookish Myung-gi has plans to find his father at any cost--even if it means joining the army and being sent to the front lines, where his deepest fears await him.

A Bank Street Best Book of the Year - Outstanding Merit
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A Book Riot Best New Book of 2023

An absolute must-read.--Booklist, starred review
Vivid, powerful.--School Library Journal
Moving.--Publishers Weekly
Searing. . . . Beautifully written.--Book Riot

The scriptures teach us that we are here on earth to be tried and tested, and that when we learned about our journey through mortality, we leapt and shouted for joy! Today, while struggling with our various tests and trials, it can be hard to believe that we were ever truly excited for them.

All of us have heard the phrase, It Will All Be Worth It , but in this compilation of essays, 19 different authors share their own unique perspectives dealing with various topics including doubt, divorce, depression, the death of a loved one, and even their own incarceration. Some overcame, and some learned to live with their burdens, but despite these tests, one thing they all share is the gained understanding that they were never alone.

These award winning authors will inspire you to find the Lord'Äôs hand in your trials by showing you where they found Him in their own.

Born into a wealthy military family, author Julie Lee enjoyed a privileged childhood in stark contrast to the abject poverty that most Cambodians experienced.

In April 1975, however, it all changed when communist Khmer Rouge forces headed by the ruthless Pol Pot capture the capital city of Phnom Penh.

After her mother and father are sent to separate labor camps and Pol Pot unleashes a genocide upon the Cambodian people, Julie is forced to flee with her Grandparents, but between them and the safety of Thailand are hundreds of miles of dangerous jungle and the guns of the Khmer Rouge.

As they flee, Julie and her Grandparents are captured and thrown with other refugees into a labor camp where, at the age of six she witnesses man's inhumanity to his fellow man.

With her co-author Keith Vickers, Julie relates the true story of her survival which she attributes to countless miracles and the guidance of an angelic White Horse.

Born into a wealthy military family, author Julie Lee enjoyed a privileged childhood in stark contrast to the abject poverty that most Cambodians experienced.

In April 1975, however, it all changed when communist Khmer Rouge forces headed by the ruthless Pol Pot capture the capital city of Phnom Penh.

After her mother and father are sent to separate labor camps and Pol Pot unleashes a genocide upon the Cambodian people, Julie is forced to flee with her Grandparents, but between them and the safety of Thailand are hundreds of miles of dangerous jungle and the guns of the Khmer Rouge.

As they flee, Julie and her Grandparents are captured and thrown with other refugees into a labor camp where, at the age of six she witnesses man's inhumanity to his fellow man.

With her co-author Keith Vickers, Julie relates the true story of her survival which she attributes to countless miracles and the guidance of an angelic White Horse.