What It’s About:
An extraordinary insight into life under one of the world’s most ruthless and secretive dictatorships – and the story of one woman’s terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her family to freedom.
As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was one of millions trapped by a secretive and brutal communist regime. Her home on the border with China gave her some exposure to the world beyond the confines of the Hermit Kingdom and, as the famine of the 1990s struck, she began to wonder, question and to realise that she had been brainwashed her entire life. Given the repression, poverty and starvation she witnessed surely her country could not be, as she had been told “the best on the planet”?
Aged seventeen, she decided to escape North Korea. She could not have imagined that it would be twelve years before she was reunited with her family. –From the publisher
Author Spotlight:
Lee Hyeon-seo was born in 1980 in North Korea. She escaped North Korea somewhat accidentally when she was 17. She is a defector and activist. Here is a link to her TED talk where she describes her escape and journey after:
Here is an article describing the return of some defectors to North Korea because of the hardships they face in South Korea:
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-01-09/some-escapees-pay-bribes-cross-rivers-risk-lives-to-return-to-kim-jong-uns-north-korea
Discussion Questions:
*What are some things you learned about North Korea that you didn’t know before?
*What was most surprising to you?
*What did you think of the author’s idea to be a professional accordion player?
*What do you think about the “sacred” status of the Kim Il-sung family and how is it required and enforced?
*How is identity central to the book? What are some of the different identities the author embraces? Which ones were most difficult?
*Had you ever considered that someone could “accidentally” defect from a country before reading this story?
*Why are acts of kindness rare in North Korea? How did the powerful acts of kindness in this book change the author’s perspective on life and other people?
*Family is extremely important to the author. How was she strengthened and helped by her ties to family?
*”Truth is stranger than fiction”– What elements of the book seemed unbelievable even though they were true?
*Propaganda in North Korea is rampant. How does propaganda impact our country and community?
*The author speaks often of the masks citizens in North Korea must wear to survive. Do you feel like she fully lifted her mask in telling her story?
*The author tells of the difficulty North Koreans have adjusting to life in South Korea and that some choose to return to North Korea as a result. After all that sacrifice and difficulty, why do you think they would choose to go back?
*What can we do to help refugees adjust to life in the United States?
Recipes: