In December 1950, Sora, 12, and her family live under oppressive Communist rule in North Korea. Within her family, only-daughter Sora struggles under oppressive traditional gender roles. Her mother (Omahni) has forced her to drop out to of school care for her youngest brother, Jisoo, and learn to cook and keep house. When the war front approaches their village, the family flees for South Korea, hoping to join relatives in Busan. On the road, Sora and her 8-year-old brother, Youngsoo, are separated from their parents and younger brother during a violent attack. Uncertain if their parents and little brother are alive, the two continue the journey south. Over and over Sora must make life-and-death decisions, trying to keep them safe and alive. She carries Youngsoo on her back when he is too weak from starvation and illness to walk. Against the odds they arrive in Busan, but the relief for Sora proves only temporary as Youngsoo's health continues to decline and her dream of returning to school is denied. The push and pull between Sora's bitterness over the favoritism her mother and society give to her brothers and her genuine love for Youngsoo is painful and believable in a story that sees Sora's understanding of family, loss, and love deepening. Above all, however, it's affirmation of her own value that is transformative in this moving work. (Ages 9-12)

With war looming on the horizon and winter setting in, can two children escape North Korea on their own?

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