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In the Shadow of the Sun
North Korea is known as the most repressive country on Earth, with a dictatorial leader, a starving population, and harsh punishment for rebellion.
Not the best place for a family vacation.
Yet that's exactly where Mia Andrews finds herself, on a tour with her aid-worker father and fractious older brother, Simon. Mia was adopted from South Korea as a baby, and the trip raises tough questions about where she really belongs. Then her dad is arrested for spying, just as forbidden photographs of North Korean slave-labor camps fall into Mia's hands. The only way to save Dad: get the pictures out of the country. Thus Mia and Simon set off on a harrowing journey to the border, without food, money, or shelter, in a land where anyone who sees them might turn them in, and getting caught could mean prison -- or worse.
An exciting adventure that offers a rare glimpse into a compelling, complicated nation, In the Shadow of the Sun is an unforgettable novel of courage and survival.
Not the best place for a family vacation.
Yet that's exactly where Mia Andrews finds herself, on a tour with her aid-worker father and fractious older brother, Simon. Mia was adopted from South Korea as a baby, and the trip raises tough questions about where she really belongs. Then her dad is arrested for spying, just as forbidden photographs of North Korean slave-labor camps fall into Mia's hands. The only way to save Dad: get the pictures out of the country. Thus Mia and Simon set off on a harrowing journey to the border, without food, money, or shelter, in a land where anyone who sees them might turn them in, and getting caught could mean prison -- or worse.
An exciting adventure that offers a rare glimpse into a compelling, complicated nation, In the Shadow of the Sun is an unforgettable novel of courage and survival.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 27, 2017
81 people are currently reading
968 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 247 reviews
April 11, 2017
In the Shadow of the Sun isn't much more than a typical middle-grade novel, but it's a tightly plotted action thriller with a good main character.
I almost felt the need to suspend my disbelief about the plotting here. But in the end, I don't know how necessary that was. While the plot has a few conveniences, in general it was more believable than most middle-grade action thrillers.
Part of the humanity of this story comes from the great main characters. Mia is brave and likable, and she plays well off her older brother.
I was really worried this would dive into the “North Korea, including its citizens, is just crazy” wavelength and end up as a published mess of racism. But it didn't go in that direction! O'Brien integrates short chapters from many North Korean citizens and doesn't stereotype. She also chose to write this from the point of view of a Korean girl, which I appreciated.
It's not a perfect novel. It stays solidly in the middle-grade genre and never tries to step outside. It also suffers from flat side characters. But in general, I was fairly impressed.
I almost felt the need to suspend my disbelief about the plotting here. But in the end, I don't know how necessary that was. While the plot has a few conveniences, in general it was more believable than most middle-grade action thrillers.
Part of the humanity of this story comes from the great main characters. Mia is brave and likable, and she plays well off her older brother.
I was really worried this would dive into the “North Korea, including its citizens, is just crazy” wavelength and end up as a published mess of racism. But it didn't go in that direction! O'Brien integrates short chapters from many North Korean citizens and doesn't stereotype. She also chose to write this from the point of view of a Korean girl, which I appreciated.
It's not a perfect novel. It stays solidly in the middle-grade genre and never tries to step outside. It also suffers from flat side characters. But in general, I was fairly impressed.
October 25, 2018
This book was pretty good. I liked the main character, Mia, and how her relationship with her brother Simon changed throughout the book. I also liked how it included chapters that were in Korean citizens' perspectives, I think it really added to the book and taught me a lot about the country.
December 26, 2017
High stakes, nearly nonstop action amid a story with heart and really good messages. Still...despite numerous setbacks in the plot, you do have to suspend your disbelief and roll with it to fully enjoy the book.
June 17, 2019
4 stars for an action packed teenage novel. I liked the fast pace and the relatable characters. I liked getting a glimpse into North Korea. I liked Mia’s journey to find where she belongs. She seemed to act older to me than her 12/13 years. I liked that the author wanted to make the people of North Korea be seen by the rest of the world. Their struggles and their life there.
Quick listen!
“Each star matters to the place where it is planted”
Quick listen!
“Each star matters to the place where it is planted”
September 23, 2018
I read this one to my 11-year-old. We enjoy parts, and it did a pretty good job giving us a fictional glimpse into the mysterious country of North Korea. However, something wasn't quite clicking for us. I'm not sure if it was the uneven pace or not feeling completely connected with the characters. It's worth a read for young people who are curious about North Korea and what it must be like living under a dictatorship.
May 6, 2019
The theme of this book is that even within danger, there is hope. This is shown by Mr. Shin and
Soon-Ok helping Mia and Simon escape North Korea by giving them food and shelter.
This book was boring and long at times.
Soon-Ok helping Mia and Simon escape North Korea by giving them food and shelter.
This book was boring and long at times.
June 28, 2017
This story is, on the surface, the action/adventure survival tale of American teen Simon and his younger adopted Korean American sister Mia as they attempt to escape from North Korea after their dad is captured, accused of wrongdoings. That in itself is a strong story and the pace is often heart-pounding as the two try to determine who to trust and how to make it out alive with information on North Korean Death Camps which aren't supposed to exist; information which could get them killed if they are discovered with it. Yet there is so much more to this story; not least of which is the depth of nuance in Simon and Mia's relationship, the discussions of adoption and family and the way it all serves to leave the reader with a larger understanding and empathy for the North Korean people. There's also really good list of resources at the back for further reading on North Korea as well as a really great few pages at the start that can even get you to read (or sound-out, at least) Korean text.
Anything you didn’t like about it? The story is as far-fetched as any middle-grade YA adventure and at some points the angst gets a bit repetitive but the characters are enjoyable and the setting is really well done; particularly with the short chapters from the POV of North Koreans who interact with Simon and Mia along the way.
To whom would you recommend this book? (Read-alikes if you can think of them) The running/surviving aspects will appeal to fans of "living rough" dystopian stories (Hunger Games, Life as We Knew It, etc). It will also be enjoyed by readers who are drawn to tales of the suffering others can feel at the hands of their country (Somewhere There Is Still a Sun).
Who should buy this book? Middle Schools, High Schools, Public Libraries (Don't be surprised if this appears on summer reading lists next year)
Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? YES!
FTC Disclosure: The Publisher provided me with a copy of this book to provide an honest review. No goody bags, sponsorship, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Anything you didn’t like about it? The story is as far-fetched as any middle-grade YA adventure and at some points the angst gets a bit repetitive but the characters are enjoyable and the setting is really well done; particularly with the short chapters from the POV of North Koreans who interact with Simon and Mia along the way.
To whom would you recommend this book? (Read-alikes if you can think of them) The running/surviving aspects will appeal to fans of "living rough" dystopian stories (Hunger Games, Life as We Knew It, etc). It will also be enjoyed by readers who are drawn to tales of the suffering others can feel at the hands of their country (Somewhere There Is Still a Sun).
Who should buy this book? Middle Schools, High Schools, Public Libraries (Don't be surprised if this appears on summer reading lists next year)
Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? YES!
FTC Disclosure: The Publisher provided me with a copy of this book to provide an honest review. No goody bags, sponsorship, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
October 7, 2018
I'm torn on this one. On one hand, I love the survivalist aspects and the fact that the North Korean people and culture are addressed in such a detailed, human way. I love that customs and traditions are explained, all while revealing some of the cruelties that occur on a daily basis. It was a smidge unrealistic to buy-in to two children managing to evade North Korean soldiers and police for so long, but I was willing to suspend disbelief for a good story.
Unfortunately, I just didn't like our narrator all that much. Mia is, well...kind of whiny. I understand she and her brother are dealing with severe emotional and physical shock as they try to survive in the North Korean wilderness, but the fact that she can't let go of some of the bad blood between them--AT LEAST UNTIL THEY ESCAPE A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION--is annoying. I honestly just didn't care about what happened between them and why they don't get along...they're siblings for goodness sake, that's kind of how that works. So whenever there was a break in the action so Mia and Simon could fight and/or bond, I just heaved a huge sigh of disappointment. I'm not saying there's not room for examining familial bonds in a story like this, I just felt like it dragged the rest of the story down.
Unfortunately, I just didn't like our narrator all that much. Mia is, well...kind of whiny. I understand she and her brother are dealing with severe emotional and physical shock as they try to survive in the North Korean wilderness, but the fact that she can't let go of some of the bad blood between them--AT LEAST UNTIL THEY ESCAPE A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION--is annoying. I honestly just didn't care about what happened between them and why they don't get along...they're siblings for goodness sake, that's kind of how that works. So whenever there was a break in the action so Mia and Simon could fight and/or bond, I just heaved a huge sigh of disappointment. I'm not saying there's not room for examining familial bonds in a story like this, I just felt like it dragged the rest of the story down.
September 7, 2017
American teenagers visiting North Korea are faced with a harrowing escape to China after their father is arrested...timely given our current situation with North Korea. The book was exciting and would serve to introduce American teens to what life might be like for people living in North Korea.
December 17, 2017
An epic novel about North Korea, family, and belonging.
(Though, may I note, I will never look at Angry Birds - or North Korea - the same way again.)
(Though, may I note, I will never look at Angry Birds - or North Korea - the same way again.)
January 20, 2018
This was a really interesting book. I really liked Mia's character, and I liked the balance between action and actual thinking.
February 19, 2018
Amazing book! Full of adventure, suspense, and fantastic language!
February 6, 2019
In the Shadow of the Sun by Anne Sibley O'Brien; Mia was born in South Korea, but was given up for adoption when she was little. Her new family consisted of her mom, dad, and older brother, Simon. When her dad decides they should take a trip to North Korea to learn more about Mia's heritage; this family learns some secrets about each other. When a forbidden phone leads to the imprisonment of Mia's dad, and the two kids suddenly on the run; its a race to the border to find safety and put this family back together again. This book was so amazing even in the points that seemed like they wouldn't be interesting I was hooked through the entire book. I would suggest this book to people who love reading non fiction and realistic fiction; such an amazing read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2018
Woah.
Give me a moment to recover.
Okay. I'm good now.
I actually met Anne Sibley O'Brien in person. I won a raffle for the book and meeting her. I got my book signed very nicely with my name in Korean and a fun note referring to something that arose in our conversation. I got to ask her many questions and talk with her about the topic of the book and even got a lesson in writing Korean! Anne Sibley O'Brien is somebody who is really fun to talk with, and I see this come across in how wonderfully interesting the novel is.
Now to the book.
I have learned so much about North Korea during this novel, more than I probably will ever. I would definitely recommend this to EVERYBODY it was SOOOOO good!! It teaches you a lot about yourself and your family.
Note to Anne Sibley O'Brien: November has been full of lots of typing and character-creating. How's yours?
Give me a moment to recover.
Okay. I'm good now.
I actually met Anne Sibley O'Brien in person. I won a raffle for the book and meeting her. I got my book signed very nicely with my name in Korean and a fun note referring to something that arose in our conversation. I got to ask her many questions and talk with her about the topic of the book and even got a lesson in writing Korean! Anne Sibley O'Brien is somebody who is really fun to talk with, and I see this come across in how wonderfully interesting the novel is.
Now to the book.
I have learned so much about North Korea during this novel, more than I probably will ever. I would definitely recommend this to EVERYBODY it was SOOOOO good!! It teaches you a lot about yourself and your family.
Note to Anne Sibley O'Brien: November has been full of lots of typing and character-creating. How's yours?
July 5, 2017
Richie’s Picks: IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN by Anne Sibley O’Brien, Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, June 2017, 338p., ISBN: 978-0-545-90574-9
“I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released”
-- Bob Dylan (1967)
“When Americans are detained in North Korea, they can expect harsh conditions, with tiny prison cells little food or water and even less daylight. And their storyline is preordained: A forced confession, a show trial, a sentence to years of hard labor with little chance of appeal.”
-- New York Times, “3 Americans Remain Imprisoned in North Korea” 6/13/17
“She moved within range and raised the stone over her head with both hands, shaking. She had only one chance. If she missed, she’d scare the snake away. Or maybe it would leap at her. Get ahold of yourself, Mia.
She took a deep breath and hurled the stone as hard as she could. It struck the snake and bounced off, tumbling down onto the ground by the wall. Suddenly the snake was a coiling, writhing mass. She shrieked. She’d only wounded it! Desperate--for the meat and to stop the snake’s suffering--she ran to the wall and picked up the stone. She brought it down again on the snake’s mashed head, once, twice, three times. The body stilled, then went limp. A tremor of revulsion went through her. Tears filled her eyes.
‘Sorry,’ she whispered. She felt like throwing up.”
The year 2017 has brought a cascade of ominous headlines about North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un’s nuclear weapons program and about the death of young American captive Otto Warmbier after his release-in-a-coma from North Korea. It’s a great coincidence that 2017 has also brought the release of Anne Sibley O’Brien’s IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN, a fictional tale about a pair of American teens escaping North Korea.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN combines aspects of a survival story, a taut thriller, and an exposé of the conditions of life and death in today’s North Korea.
Best of all, this is a story in which a girl who has been in the shadow of her father and older brother comes to recognize her strength and leadership abilities.
Teenager Mia Andrews was adopted as an infant from South Korea. Her adoptive American father is an aid worker who helps arrange for food to reach starving people in North Korea. When Mia and her brother Simon accompany their father on a supposed vacation trip to North Korea, mysterious circumstances lead, in rapid-fire succession, to Mia coming into possession of a cell phone containing forbidden and damning secret photos of a North Korean prison camp, the teens’ father being taken away by North Korean soldiers, and then to Mia and Simon going on the run, trying to make their way northward for over one hundred miles to somehow escape across the border into China.
From the first pages, when she spies her father inexplicably sneaking out of his hotel room in the middle of the night, I was caught up in Mia’s story.
Throughout the story, readers meet sympathetic North Korean characters who live under a repressive regime but are everyday people. These are people who have families, hopes, and dreams, and don’t support the actions of dictator Kim Jong-un. Short interludes between chapters reveal bits about some of these fictional North Koreans who cross paths and sometimes help Mia and Simon as the teens perilously sneak their way closer and closer to the Chinese border. One of these supportive people is Soon-ok:
“Soon-ok’s father, a farmer, had been full of zeal for building a new nation by feeding its citizens. But, inevitably, his enthusiasm and popularity had threatened someone with a higher rank--the bully party leader who controlled local matters. Her father’s ideas for improving crop yield were twisted into evidence of corruption and individualism, which everyone in the village knew could not possibly be true, but no one dared to contradict. Then came the sham of the ‘trial,’ and the sentence: five years in a reeducation camp. The one thing her father’s strength of character won was protection for his family, the official was shrewd enough to calculate that there was a limit to what the villagers would go along with, and sent her father off alone.”
Author Anne Sibley O’Brien has benefitted from her real life connection to her subject matter, having spent much of her childhood and adolescence in South Korea as the daughter of medical missionaries.
There is plenty of evil, greed, and corruption here in America. Things are not fair or equal for many Americans. But astute young readers will recognize that--as long as we vigorously protect the U.S. Constitution, which oversees our constitutional democracy and First Amendment freedoms-- there’s a big difference between life in dictatorial countries such as North Korea and the life we lead here.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
“I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released”
-- Bob Dylan (1967)
“When Americans are detained in North Korea, they can expect harsh conditions, with tiny prison cells little food or water and even less daylight. And their storyline is preordained: A forced confession, a show trial, a sentence to years of hard labor with little chance of appeal.”
-- New York Times, “3 Americans Remain Imprisoned in North Korea” 6/13/17
“She moved within range and raised the stone over her head with both hands, shaking. She had only one chance. If she missed, she’d scare the snake away. Or maybe it would leap at her. Get ahold of yourself, Mia.
She took a deep breath and hurled the stone as hard as she could. It struck the snake and bounced off, tumbling down onto the ground by the wall. Suddenly the snake was a coiling, writhing mass. She shrieked. She’d only wounded it! Desperate--for the meat and to stop the snake’s suffering--she ran to the wall and picked up the stone. She brought it down again on the snake’s mashed head, once, twice, three times. The body stilled, then went limp. A tremor of revulsion went through her. Tears filled her eyes.
‘Sorry,’ she whispered. She felt like throwing up.”
The year 2017 has brought a cascade of ominous headlines about North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un’s nuclear weapons program and about the death of young American captive Otto Warmbier after his release-in-a-coma from North Korea. It’s a great coincidence that 2017 has also brought the release of Anne Sibley O’Brien’s IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN, a fictional tale about a pair of American teens escaping North Korea.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN combines aspects of a survival story, a taut thriller, and an exposé of the conditions of life and death in today’s North Korea.
Best of all, this is a story in which a girl who has been in the shadow of her father and older brother comes to recognize her strength and leadership abilities.
Teenager Mia Andrews was adopted as an infant from South Korea. Her adoptive American father is an aid worker who helps arrange for food to reach starving people in North Korea. When Mia and her brother Simon accompany their father on a supposed vacation trip to North Korea, mysterious circumstances lead, in rapid-fire succession, to Mia coming into possession of a cell phone containing forbidden and damning secret photos of a North Korean prison camp, the teens’ father being taken away by North Korean soldiers, and then to Mia and Simon going on the run, trying to make their way northward for over one hundred miles to somehow escape across the border into China.
From the first pages, when she spies her father inexplicably sneaking out of his hotel room in the middle of the night, I was caught up in Mia’s story.
Throughout the story, readers meet sympathetic North Korean characters who live under a repressive regime but are everyday people. These are people who have families, hopes, and dreams, and don’t support the actions of dictator Kim Jong-un. Short interludes between chapters reveal bits about some of these fictional North Koreans who cross paths and sometimes help Mia and Simon as the teens perilously sneak their way closer and closer to the Chinese border. One of these supportive people is Soon-ok:
“Soon-ok’s father, a farmer, had been full of zeal for building a new nation by feeding its citizens. But, inevitably, his enthusiasm and popularity had threatened someone with a higher rank--the bully party leader who controlled local matters. Her father’s ideas for improving crop yield were twisted into evidence of corruption and individualism, which everyone in the village knew could not possibly be true, but no one dared to contradict. Then came the sham of the ‘trial,’ and the sentence: five years in a reeducation camp. The one thing her father’s strength of character won was protection for his family, the official was shrewd enough to calculate that there was a limit to what the villagers would go along with, and sent her father off alone.”
Author Anne Sibley O’Brien has benefitted from her real life connection to her subject matter, having spent much of her childhood and adolescence in South Korea as the daughter of medical missionaries.
There is plenty of evil, greed, and corruption here in America. Things are not fair or equal for many Americans. But astute young readers will recognize that--as long as we vigorously protect the U.S. Constitution, which oversees our constitutional democracy and First Amendment freedoms-- there’s a big difference between life in dictatorial countries such as North Korea and the life we lead here.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
November 30, 2018
Although this book had some confusing parts and some parts which are hard to understand, this book was surprisingly, really good. The confusing, intense, unpredictable was the catch of this book.
December 21, 2018
I like to think about my country's neighbor of the north, North Korea. It was really cool to read about a book about North Korea.
November 7, 2018
This was a great book! I could not put it down, This book was about a girl and her brother trying to escape North Korea in relatively present day with a phone that had pictures of people in the hard labor camp. The characters were struggling because they did not have an adult, they were starving and they were in unfamiliar territory. Most of all they would get taken by the government. This book was full of surprises, and lots of interesting facts, and kept me reading. I recommend this book to anyone especially people who love adventure.
December 4, 2020
The story: Mia and Simon are on a tour of North Korea with their father when they discover evidence of the country's brutal prison camps. They know it could incriminate their dad, and possibly cause him to end up with a life sentence in one of those very camps--so when their dad is arrested, they go on the run, trying to make it to the Chinese border and freedom. They have no idea just how much they're going to depend on the kindness of strangers to come out of this alive.
June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG (descriptions of labor camps, but not graphic); Suxual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse G; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (repressive regimes, forced labor, espionage) PG; overall rating PG.
Book trailer: https://youtu.be/g-DqXvE0DiA
Liz's comments: Readers who know little about repressive regimes will find a lot to consider in this story. Mia and Simon's decision to bolt seems unconsidered, and there are long stretches of plain old running-and-hiding that seem to go on for a long time, but the glimpse into a world that's so diametrically opposite from ours will be rewarding for kids who stick to it.
June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG (descriptions of labor camps, but not graphic); Suxual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse G; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (repressive regimes, forced labor, espionage) PG; overall rating PG.
Book trailer: https://youtu.be/g-DqXvE0DiA
Liz's comments: Readers who know little about repressive regimes will find a lot to consider in this story. Mia and Simon's decision to bolt seems unconsidered, and there are long stretches of plain old running-and-hiding that seem to go on for a long time, but the glimpse into a world that's so diametrically opposite from ours will be rewarding for kids who stick to it.
June 6, 2018
4 Quarter 5 Choice Book
This is the story of a teenaged girl named Mia. She was adopted from South Korea and taken into the home of two loving parents and an older brother named Simon. Throughout the book, Simon and Mia don't always get along.
Their dad takes them on a vacation to North Korea. Mia finds that her father has been snooping around the hotel.
Eventually, they come across a phone with some forbidden government pictures on it. This causes her father to get arrested and for Mia and Simon to go on the run in order to escape not being arrested themselves. They eventually do escape to China but it was a long journey to get there. There were injury, scheme, and close deaths.
I would highly recommend this book because of it's great factor that is always keeping you on your seat.
This is the story of a teenaged girl named Mia. She was adopted from South Korea and taken into the home of two loving parents and an older brother named Simon. Throughout the book, Simon and Mia don't always get along.
Their dad takes them on a vacation to North Korea. Mia finds that her father has been snooping around the hotel.
Eventually, they come across a phone with some forbidden government pictures on it. This causes her father to get arrested and for Mia and Simon to go on the run in order to escape not being arrested themselves. They eventually do escape to China but it was a long journey to get there. There were injury, scheme, and close deaths.
I would highly recommend this book because of it's great factor that is always keeping you on your seat.
June 14, 2018
An engaging story that held to more realistic actions for the characters. With many action stories practical details can be ignored making them fantastical, but the author managed to keep everyone human while getting a great story. It is a tragic representating of what it is actually like in North Korea and other nations and how we of the western world are oblivious in our tiny problems to the stark reality of the desperate poverty that exist openly in the world. To see it through the eyes of two American kids and watch them grow to understand how to think outside themself while still surviving is powerful. As well getting a good glimpse of what it means to be a person out of their culture whether the adopted child or the tourist and how mindsets can grow to be ones identity.
December 5, 2017
I liked the way the author portrayed the characters Mia and Simmon. The more indepth I read the more I found the way the setting effected the characters more than any other book I'd read before. I loves this book and gave it 4 stars. I would recommend this book to everyone.
April 15, 2020
This book was okay. The plot was good, but I felt like one of the main characters often swore unnecessarily. I think that the swearing took away from the overall action and adventure of the story. I think this book should be classified as YA.
December 4, 2017
all they do really for most of the book is walk, fight, hide from soldiers, makeup from the previous fight and repeat
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2018
Really amazing book! I absolutely loved it. I believe it talked a lot about what happens in North Korea. It also looks like it had a lot of research involved. It was really good
August 30, 2019
The book I read was In the Shadow of the Sun by Anne Sibley. Although there were many different themes that shone brightly in this book, there was a very important and common one I saw many times, appear. The theme was, in dark times, family will always be there for you, family isn’t determined by being/looking the same or being related, its determined by the place you hold in their heart. I chose this theme because Simon and Mia didn’t get along very well because they had grown apart over the years. After that happened, Mia felt like she didn’t fit in with her family and that she was different. But, during the trip they were there to support each other unquestionably. Throughout their journey, the ended up clearing up why they drifted apart and by the end they knew they could trust each other.
Although, the genre could have easily been many others, the genre of this book is adventure and it is Fiction. This story takes place in North Korea and the main characters are Mia and Simon Andrews. Mia is an adopted child from South Korea who lives with her adoptive parents and brother in America. One day, her father takes Simon and Mia on a business trip to North Korea, a place where strict rules cannot be broken and dangerous secrets lurk beneath the surface. The trip that was meant to be a joyful family vacation, ends up in shreds and Mia’s father is arrested for spying. Coincidentally, at the same time, a phone with incriminating North Korean prison camp photos, land in Mia’s hands. Afraid of the consequences for having the images on them, Mia and Simon run away and hide from the North Korean Officials. Trying to get across the North Korean border before they get caught.
Though was a really thoughtful and absorbing book, I felt as if the beginning of the book could have been more interesting. There was a good hook that lured me in, but after it did, it became boring and lost me. When Mia’s father went out in the middle of the night to meet somebody and didn’t explain why later in the morning, Mia was very suspicious and worried of what her father was doing. Especially, because North Korea had such strict rules and he could’ve been arrested and put in a prison camp, if he had broken one. This kept us readers, turning each page, to figure out what he was doing/talking with that man at the odd hour. But soon after, it became very boring for me because the answer was never revealed in the beginning and it was just about the things they did and saw on the tour. It didn’t really feel like it was significant or as if we really needed to read that part. Although, the author made up for that part by quickly rising into the action. I loved how the author created suspense throughout the entire story. An example was when Mia and Simon were found by the North Korean officials, threw the phone into the lake, and were arrested. I was worried that after all the trouble, miles, and pain they have gone through, it had all gone to waste. But, the author surprised me. She did this by making Simon steal the car while the driver was outside and telling Mia that it wasn’t the phone he threw into the lake. Instead, it was his walkman. It looked similar enough, to be able to trick them into thinking it was the phone. Anne Sibley also made her book interesting by putting the point of views from the people that Mia and Simon met along the way before or after their encounters with them . We got to know what they were thinking, doing, and how the North Korean government affected them. Also, by the end of the book, why Mia’s father was meeting the man in the middle of the night was revealed, as well as how the incriminating pictures got onto the phone.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure and historical fiction. If you liked the books Dash and The War Outside, then you will probably enjoy this book too. It gives insight on the treatment/conditions of the citizens in North Korea and the people that struggle inside the prison camps there. This is similar to the other two books because they show insight of cruel judgements made by the government and the harsh treatment and consequences they got because of it. Overall, this would be a great read for anybody who wants to try reading these genres and this was a really beautiful and invigorating book.
Although, the genre could have easily been many others, the genre of this book is adventure and it is Fiction. This story takes place in North Korea and the main characters are Mia and Simon Andrews. Mia is an adopted child from South Korea who lives with her adoptive parents and brother in America. One day, her father takes Simon and Mia on a business trip to North Korea, a place where strict rules cannot be broken and dangerous secrets lurk beneath the surface. The trip that was meant to be a joyful family vacation, ends up in shreds and Mia’s father is arrested for spying. Coincidentally, at the same time, a phone with incriminating North Korean prison camp photos, land in Mia’s hands. Afraid of the consequences for having the images on them, Mia and Simon run away and hide from the North Korean Officials. Trying to get across the North Korean border before they get caught.
Though was a really thoughtful and absorbing book, I felt as if the beginning of the book could have been more interesting. There was a good hook that lured me in, but after it did, it became boring and lost me. When Mia’s father went out in the middle of the night to meet somebody and didn’t explain why later in the morning, Mia was very suspicious and worried of what her father was doing. Especially, because North Korea had such strict rules and he could’ve been arrested and put in a prison camp, if he had broken one. This kept us readers, turning each page, to figure out what he was doing/talking with that man at the odd hour. But soon after, it became very boring for me because the answer was never revealed in the beginning and it was just about the things they did and saw on the tour. It didn’t really feel like it was significant or as if we really needed to read that part. Although, the author made up for that part by quickly rising into the action. I loved how the author created suspense throughout the entire story. An example was when Mia and Simon were found by the North Korean officials, threw the phone into the lake, and were arrested. I was worried that after all the trouble, miles, and pain they have gone through, it had all gone to waste. But, the author surprised me. She did this by making Simon steal the car while the driver was outside and telling Mia that it wasn’t the phone he threw into the lake. Instead, it was his walkman. It looked similar enough, to be able to trick them into thinking it was the phone. Anne Sibley also made her book interesting by putting the point of views from the people that Mia and Simon met along the way before or after their encounters with them . We got to know what they were thinking, doing, and how the North Korean government affected them. Also, by the end of the book, why Mia’s father was meeting the man in the middle of the night was revealed, as well as how the incriminating pictures got onto the phone.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure and historical fiction. If you liked the books Dash and The War Outside, then you will probably enjoy this book too. It gives insight on the treatment/conditions of the citizens in North Korea and the people that struggle inside the prison camps there. This is similar to the other two books because they show insight of cruel judgements made by the government and the harsh treatment and consequences they got because of it. Overall, this would be a great read for anybody who wants to try reading these genres and this was a really beautiful and invigorating book.
August 30, 2019
Over the summer, I have had the privilege to read the amazing book, In The Shadow Of The Sun by Anne Sibley. This book underlays the theme that it is okay to be different, because being different is what makes you yourself.
The genre of this tantalizing story is realistic fiction. In this book, the protagonist Mia, finds herself in North Korea for a family vacation with her older brother Simon, and her dad. On the first day of North Korea, she receives a present. She becomes bored, and decides to open it, even though she is supposed to wait until she gets back to America. Inside, she finds a Korean phone. When she goes on her tour, she decides to play Angry Birds on the phone, but she finds pictures of Koreans being punished, killed, tortured, and more. She is in a complete state of shock when Mia shows Simon the pictures while hiding so no one else witnesses the horror of the photos. They agree they can’t show anyone the photos as military cars pull up and arrest their father. They presume they would be next, and run away, attempting to make the long hike with tears streaming down their faces as they abandon their father. They come up with a plan to get the photos to China where they aren’t as strict, then they will go back for their father.
I personally relished this book, as I hope others do, or will too. This is because I love being able to connect to a book, and to feel the same as the characters. For example, when Simon gets a crucial wound, Mia has to take care of him while trying to survive in the wilderness. This reminds me of the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, because in this story, a boy is in a plane crash in the wilderness because the pilot has a heart attack, and must tend to his injuries while surviving. I also loved that the story included enough about the real world to make the story sound realistic, and you can be fully submerged into the story.
This enchanting story with friendly, and not so friendly encounters, adventures, hardships, and more was an amazing book to read. In The Shadow Of The Sun would be a good read for people who love adventure, and survival stories. This story connects to almost everyone, because everyone feels excluded sometimes, but everyone will learn to not only get over it, but embrace it, just like Mia did.
The genre of this tantalizing story is realistic fiction. In this book, the protagonist Mia, finds herself in North Korea for a family vacation with her older brother Simon, and her dad. On the first day of North Korea, she receives a present. She becomes bored, and decides to open it, even though she is supposed to wait until she gets back to America. Inside, she finds a Korean phone. When she goes on her tour, she decides to play Angry Birds on the phone, but she finds pictures of Koreans being punished, killed, tortured, and more. She is in a complete state of shock when Mia shows Simon the pictures while hiding so no one else witnesses the horror of the photos. They agree they can’t show anyone the photos as military cars pull up and arrest their father. They presume they would be next, and run away, attempting to make the long hike with tears streaming down their faces as they abandon their father. They come up with a plan to get the photos to China where they aren’t as strict, then they will go back for their father.
I personally relished this book, as I hope others do, or will too. This is because I love being able to connect to a book, and to feel the same as the characters. For example, when Simon gets a crucial wound, Mia has to take care of him while trying to survive in the wilderness. This reminds me of the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, because in this story, a boy is in a plane crash in the wilderness because the pilot has a heart attack, and must tend to his injuries while surviving. I also loved that the story included enough about the real world to make the story sound realistic, and you can be fully submerged into the story.
This enchanting story with friendly, and not so friendly encounters, adventures, hardships, and more was an amazing book to read. In The Shadow Of The Sun would be a good read for people who love adventure, and survival stories. This story connects to almost everyone, because everyone feels excluded sometimes, but everyone will learn to not only get over it, but embrace it, just like Mia did.
March 10, 2020
I found this book using the National Council of Social Studies Notable Trade Books for Young People.
The story opens to the main character, Mia, waking up to her father leaving her hotel room in the middle of the night to do something mysterious. Mia is wondering why her father would leave in the middle of the night especially since they are in North Korea where leaving anywhere without a tour guide is forbidden. Mia wonders her fathers motive of leaving throughout their trip as they take tours of North Korea learning about their culture, the Mass Games, and the important landmarks. Mia is on this trip with her brother, Simon, and her dad. They are on this trip because their dad is an aid-worker for giving food to various organizations. As they go on their trip, the dad is arrested for suspected “spying”. As this is happening, Mia finds horrible pictures of North Korean slave-labor camps. Her brother and her decide the only way to save their dad is to get the pictures out of the country. With their dad arrested, Mia and Simon have to go on a troubling journey through North Korea to get to safety. They have no food, money, shelter where they encounter soldiers, citizens that are suspicious of their whereabouts, and different sides of government that are working together and against each other who want to track down Mia and Simon. Through this story, Mia and Simon learn to work together to help get themselves to safety, as well as undergo many suspenseful events. Will they save their dad and also save themselves from the dangers of their journey?
This book fits the genre of Historical Fiction as it tells us the story of North Korea. As well as, the plot that develops throughout the story that is consistent with the historical events and time period. The author also gives detailed accounts on the setting of the story that is accurate to where the story is set. The author wrote a “brochure” style information guide that was probably used by Mia and her family to learn more about North Korea. Included in this brochure was more information for the reader to learn more about the Korean alphabet, where North Korea is on the map, and a North Korean history of independence and invasion. It also included what to do on your trip and what not to. This informational guide also included real-life pictures that helped me as the reader understand who the author was talking about.
Diversity is well depicted in this story as we learn about the language, food, and customs of North Korea. As well as, important facts of their culture. Mia is also from South Korea where she was adopted into a white family. As the story is read, we learn how she struggles with always being around people that look different from her. Her family enrolled her in Korean school and brought her to Korean restaurants where on the outside this would seem as addressing her heritage, but she struggles with no one talking about her on the inside and how she feels with being different from her friends and family. There is an author’s note in the back of the book where the author describes this book as a ten-year journey of research and conversation. The author originally lived in South Korea for twenty-one years where they had a great interest in Korea, but never knew much about North Korea. The author goes into detail how they found their research to be able to write this book. I love that the author gave more books to learn more about North Korea.
As Mia goes on this scary journey, she starts to find herself and “grow” into both sides of herself, her Korean heritage and her white heritage. This is a great theme and way to incorporate this in the classroom on how we all come from different cultures and heritages. Also, that it is important to get to know friends and family that are different from us. I think this would be paired well with nonfiction texts about North Korea and South Korea. This book is appropriate for the middle grades as there is strong language and difficult topics such as depression talked about in the book.
The story opens to the main character, Mia, waking up to her father leaving her hotel room in the middle of the night to do something mysterious. Mia is wondering why her father would leave in the middle of the night especially since they are in North Korea where leaving anywhere without a tour guide is forbidden. Mia wonders her fathers motive of leaving throughout their trip as they take tours of North Korea learning about their culture, the Mass Games, and the important landmarks. Mia is on this trip with her brother, Simon, and her dad. They are on this trip because their dad is an aid-worker for giving food to various organizations. As they go on their trip, the dad is arrested for suspected “spying”. As this is happening, Mia finds horrible pictures of North Korean slave-labor camps. Her brother and her decide the only way to save their dad is to get the pictures out of the country. With their dad arrested, Mia and Simon have to go on a troubling journey through North Korea to get to safety. They have no food, money, shelter where they encounter soldiers, citizens that are suspicious of their whereabouts, and different sides of government that are working together and against each other who want to track down Mia and Simon. Through this story, Mia and Simon learn to work together to help get themselves to safety, as well as undergo many suspenseful events. Will they save their dad and also save themselves from the dangers of their journey?
This book fits the genre of Historical Fiction as it tells us the story of North Korea. As well as, the plot that develops throughout the story that is consistent with the historical events and time period. The author also gives detailed accounts on the setting of the story that is accurate to where the story is set. The author wrote a “brochure” style information guide that was probably used by Mia and her family to learn more about North Korea. Included in this brochure was more information for the reader to learn more about the Korean alphabet, where North Korea is on the map, and a North Korean history of independence and invasion. It also included what to do on your trip and what not to. This informational guide also included real-life pictures that helped me as the reader understand who the author was talking about.
Diversity is well depicted in this story as we learn about the language, food, and customs of North Korea. As well as, important facts of their culture. Mia is also from South Korea where she was adopted into a white family. As the story is read, we learn how she struggles with always being around people that look different from her. Her family enrolled her in Korean school and brought her to Korean restaurants where on the outside this would seem as addressing her heritage, but she struggles with no one talking about her on the inside and how she feels with being different from her friends and family. There is an author’s note in the back of the book where the author describes this book as a ten-year journey of research and conversation. The author originally lived in South Korea for twenty-one years where they had a great interest in Korea, but never knew much about North Korea. The author goes into detail how they found their research to be able to write this book. I love that the author gave more books to learn more about North Korea.
As Mia goes on this scary journey, she starts to find herself and “grow” into both sides of herself, her Korean heritage and her white heritage. This is a great theme and way to incorporate this in the classroom on how we all come from different cultures and heritages. Also, that it is important to get to know friends and family that are different from us. I think this would be paired well with nonfiction texts about North Korea and South Korea. This book is appropriate for the middle grades as there is strong language and difficult topics such as depression talked about in the book.
December 9, 2019
I feel like the nicest thing to say about this book is that it's a nice try. The problem is that it asks you not only to suspend all the disbelief.
Not just that two American kids can elude the authorities in North Korea in a bid to make it to , but that they then spend the whole time wishing for hot showers, and finding food in a forest that somehow the entire starving population missed, and bickering with each other. Not with any emotional consistency, but strictly to serve the plot. While that may not be wholly unrealistic, it is pretty unenjoyable.
Oh, and also you'd have to buy the idea the Every Single North Korean they meet is ready and eager to hide them, help them, trust them, and then let them go with no hope of reward and every risk of imprisonment and death. And that these two kids were able to immediately guess the larger conspiracy, completely and accurately, on their first try. And that the answer to this trauma is--
Also throw in a car chase toward the end, where somehow a high-schooler knows how to drive a 1930s Soviet vehicle. (Note: it doesn't say there's a 1930s vehicle here. It doesn't go into any detail about which car they boost, but the last I heard North Korea uses the same vehicles Stalin used to make house arrests.)
Not just that two American kids can elude the authorities in North Korea in a bid to make it to , but that they then spend the whole time wishing for hot showers, and finding food in a forest that somehow the entire starving population missed, and bickering with each other. Not with any emotional consistency, but strictly to serve the plot. While that may not be wholly unrealistic, it is pretty unenjoyable.
Oh, and also you'd have to buy the idea the Every Single North Korean they meet is ready and eager to hide them, help them, trust them, and then let them go with no hope of reward and every risk of imprisonment and death. And that these two kids were able to immediately guess the larger conspiracy, completely and accurately, on their first try. And that the answer to this trauma is--
Also throw in a car chase toward the end, where somehow a high-schooler knows how to drive a 1930s Soviet vehicle. (Note: it doesn't say there's a 1930s vehicle here. It doesn't go into any detail about which car they boost, but the last I heard North Korea uses the same vehicles Stalin used to make house arrests.)
March 30, 2019
This is a fantastic middle grade read that will appeal to fans of Alan Gratz's Refugee & Code of Honor. The novel centers around 2 American siblings, Mia and Simon, who are travelling with their father (an aid worker) to North Korea. Their father is taken by the secret police and Mia & Simon find themselves with a phone with incriminating photos & decide to make a run for the northern border with China. The author lived in S. Korea for 21 years & speaks fluent Korean, and spent years meticulously researching every facet of this novel, and it shows. In between sections of Mia & Simon's story are chapters by North Koreans who form part of the narrative, offering cultural insights and another perspective. Mia is an adopted Korean and shares many of the challenges that that brings with it. Awesome action, lots of sibling issues to work through, and terrific suspense. This one will not disappoint middle grade readers!
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