{"id":47181,"date":"2020-07-27T11:12:57","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T15:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/?p=47181"},"modified":"2020-07-24T11:53:47","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T15:53:47","slug":"brothers-keeper-by-julie-lee-in-shelf-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/brothers-keeper-by-julie-lee-in-shelf-awareness\/","title":{"rendered":"Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee [in Shelf Awareness]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"For debut author Julie Lee<\/a>, 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\u00a0<\/em>is a compelling #OwnVoices middle-grade novel that is both edifying and inspiring.<\/p>\n

Even before the war, under North Korea’s Kim Il-sung, freedoms have all but disappeared. Whole families are vanishing \u2013 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 8-year-old brother, Youngsoo, from their parents and baby brother. For the rest of the odyssey \u2013 crossing frozen rivers, avoiding bullets, escaping kidnappings, fighting hunger and illness \u2013 Sora becomes her brother’s keeper, determined to deliver them both to safety.<\/p>\n

“The stories of refugee survivors remain largely untold \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

Discover<\/strong>: Inspired by her mother’s memories of the Korean War, #OwnVoices author Julie Lee introduces 12-year-old Sora, who acts as her brother’s keeper during their epic journey from North to South Korea.<\/p>\n

Review<\/strong>: “Children’s & Young Adult,” Shelf Awareness<\/em>, July 24, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Middle Grade, Young Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0is a compelling #OwnVoices…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,37,38,30,31],"tags":[6608,9223,75,10,149,24,123,9224,129,39,6872,44,45],"class_list":["post-47181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","category-korean","category-korean-american","category-middle-grade-readers","category-young-adult-readers","tag-bookdragon","tag-brothers-keeper","tag-death","tag-family","tag-gender-inequality","tag-historical","tag-illness","tag-julie-lee","tag-mother-daughter-relationship","tag-parent-child-relationship","tag-shelf-awareness","tag-siblings","tag-war"],"yoast_head":"\nBrother's Keeper by Julie Lee [in Shelf Awareness] - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/brothers-keeper-by-julie-lee-in-shelf-awareness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee [in Shelf Awareness] - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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. 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