In the Tunnel

This moving historical novel from Lee (Brother's Keeper) opens in October 1952, centering bookish Myung-gi, who has joined the South Korean army in order to find his Ahpa. After an explosion traps 16-year-old Myung-gi in an enemy tunnel at the North-South Korean border, alternating chapters trace both his present awaiting death in the tunnel and past experiences beginning in 1945. Emotional third-person narration recounts Myung-gi's family's reaction to historical events, including the feeling of freedom at the end of Japan's imperial rule and rising tensions between Soviet-occupied northern Korea, where the family lives, and U.S.-occupied southern Korea. Ahpa's criticism of the occupying governments, his smuggling in Western books for Myung-gi, and his previous role as a factory owner necessitates the family's departure from their home to Busan. Myung-gi's father is taken by the Red Army before the family can execute their planned escape, however, and Myung-gi, younger sister Yoomee, and their Uhma must make a harrowing journey south to Busan alone, to avoid Myung-gi's recruitment. Interspersed between harrowing scenes of travel and remembrances of Myung-gi's father are the youth's thoughtful ruminations on the human cost of war. Lee compassionately depicts the difficult journey and Myung-gi's grappling with finding normalcy in this well-paced story about an underreported war. Ages 8-12. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (May)

Gr 5 Up--Set in the 1950s, Lee's latest novel offers readers a glimpse of the brutal personal impacts of the Korean War. Myung-gi is 16--too young to go to war, and yet he's carrying a rifle, fighting in a conflict that's tearing families apart all across the country. He shouldn't be there at all. He loves books and reading, the sound of language flowing off the page, but he's come to the 38th parallel to find his father, Ahpa, who was taken by the secret police. This vivid, powerful title uses Myung-gi's story to give readers a firsthand glimpse of the political and military turmoil in mid--20th-century Korea. The book vividly captures the disorientation and longing of a young man who finds himself cut off from his home, his family, and his dreams for the future. Through flashbacks, Lee shows how her characters reassemble the pieces of their lives to create a new, more hopeful story. VERDICT This companion novel to Brother's Keeper is recommended for readers of historical fiction--particularly fiction that deals with themes of war, trauma, and disconnection.--Talea Anderson