by Sungiu Lee, 314 pages, Grades 7 and up.

Sungju used to live with his parents in North Korea and while they were struggling to have enough, they, at least, had each other. One day his family is exiled into a remote part of the country forced to live in extreme famine and poverty, and then his parents disappear as well. Now Sungju is forced to survive on his own. He resorts to joining a gang of street kids teaching himself to steal, and fight just to stay alive. He is constantly living in fear of being caught by the authorities, or being beat up by another street gang, or simply not finding enough food or shelter to stay alive, and no one seems to be coming to his rescue. Because this is his memoir, we understand he does survive but the path is a terrifying roller coaster without an end in sight.

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If you enjoy memoirs and harrowing survival stories you might also enjoy: Red Scarf Girl, by Ji-li Jiang, A Land of Permanent Goodbyes, by Atia Abawi, or Never Fall Down, by Patricia McCormick.

Tags: memoir, North Korea, sad stories, coming of age, survival, adventure