For debut author Julie Lee, the Korean War is deeply personal: her mother was 15 and living in North Korea when the war commenced on June 25, 1950. Drawing on her mother's memories of her north-to-south escape and relocation, Lee's Brother's Keeper is a compelling #OwnVoices middle-grade novel that is both edifying and inspiring.
Even before the war, under North Korea's Kim Il-sung, freedoms have all but disappeared. Whole families are vanishing--either taken by the regime or escaping to the south. By late November, 12-year-old Sora's father decides they must leave their village and join her uncle in Busan, at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. A few days into their journey, an aerial bombing separates Sora and her eight-year-old brother, Youngsoo, from their parents and baby brother. For the rest of the odyssey--crossing frozen rivers, avoiding bullets, escaping kidnappings, fighting hunger and illness--Sora becomes her brother's keeper, determined to deliver them both to safety.
"The stories of refugee survivors remain largely untold--narratives full of courage, love, and hope," Lee writes in her ending author's note. Beyond the harrowing passage, the resonating power of Lee's narrative lies in the familial relationships she presents raw and unfiltered. Forced to leave school at 12 to care for her two younger brothers, Sora is understandably resentful. Aware of culturally stringent gender limitations, Sora's mother is excessively demanding of her only daughter, preparing her to survive in a society that values sons, not daughters. Overlapping historical accuracy with personal testimony, Lee presents a nuanced story of strength, tenacity and everlasting family bonds. --Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon