I escaped North Korea! | Ellie Crowe & Scott Peters

Sinopse:
From multi-award-winning writer Ellie Crowe and bestselling children's author Scott Peters comes a gripping survival story about a young refugee's escape from North Korea. 

14-year-old Dae has been taught that his country's leaders are like gods and that their country is the best in the world. Yet all his family has to eat is watery porridge made from grass. At school, Dae and his friends bow before the leaders' giant portraits, their clothes flapping around their bony limbs. Dae begins to question why their rulers look so well fed.

When Dae's father is hauled away, he's left to fend for himself. The young teen dreams of saving his father. If he can cross the border into China, maybe he can earn enough money to bribe the jailors. But can he make it past the deadly border guards and high fences?

Does he have what it takes to escape?

If you like survival stories, you'll love this book.

Que livro...! Estou a escrever isto mal acabei a leitura e estou completamente abismada com o que acabei de ler.

Neste livro é-nos contada a história de Dae, um rapaz de 14 anos que está literalmente a morrer à fome na Coreia do Norte. Tudo é controlado neste país, cada passo é monitorizado pelo vizinho ou colega. Há sessões de auto-crítica quem que para além de terem de enumerar algum desrespeito a alguma lei têm ainda que apontar o dedo aos seus colegas e denunciá-los. Ou seja, imagina viver num mundo em que não há ninguém em que possas confiar, porque a pessoa mais tarde ou mais cedo terá que te culpar de algo para poder sobreviver.

Imagina um mundo onde não levar as fezes para a escola, para fertilizar os campos de cultura, é considerado desrespeito à lei!

O pai de Dae, cansado de não conseguir alimentar a sua família, tenta dar a volta à situação, mas é preso por tentativa de roubo. A mãe do rapaz parte então em busca de uma forma de poder tirar o marido da cadeia. Vendo-se sozinho, Dae tenta sobreviver e surge a oportunidade de atravessar a fronteira para a China e, assim, fugir.

O que mais me surpreendeu neste jovem foi a sua força e coragem ao longo de todo o livro. Mesmo perante as adversidades Dae conseguiu manter-se positivo o tempo todo.

O país vive completamente fechado em si mesmo, os seus Líderes são Deuses na Terra e é ensinado que os Americanos e os Sul Coreanos são o demónio e a causa de todos os problemas da Coreia do Norte. 

Este livro lembrou-me The Hunger Games e o governo do Snow. Lembrou-me Gilead de "A História de uma Serva" e lembrou-me todas as histórias que li sobre o ambiente de terror que se viveu nas Guerras Mundiais e que acabam por ser mais faladas do que propriamente estes casos que estão a ocorrer agora, neste preciso momento, na Coreia do Norte (e em outros países).

Afinal parece que estes livros distópicos de distopia têm pouco, certo? As histórias descritas neles estão realmente a acontecer do outro lado do mundo.

O holocausto foi um momento vergonhoso para a história da humanidade, é verdade, mas não podemos mudar o passado, apenas o presente e o futuro. E está claro que país descrito neste livro tem graves problemas e precisa urgentemente de mudanças. E tal como este existem muitos outros.

Apesar desta história não ser realmente o relato de uma vivência de alguém que escapou a este regime é, segundo a autora, uma compilação de histórias de refugiados e de factos precisos. Entristece-me saber que há pessoas reais que tentam sobreviver na Coreia do Norte onde praticamente tudo é proibido, ou que tentam fugir e não conseguem... Acima de tudo, é desolador saber que em pleno séc. XXI há pessoas que vivem sem liberdade.

Com este livro conseguimos sentir na pele o que é ser um refugiado e o quão importante é a ajuda dos outros neste processo de fuga em direção à liberdade.

É um infanto-juvenil pequenino, pelo menos na minha edição tem 83 páginas, mas ainda assim é um livro tão grande, tão cheio de história! Foi publicado a 29 de Novembro e podem comprá-lo aqui: Amazon .

Tenho que agradecer aos autores por me terem cedido esta cópia para vos poder trazer aqui a minha opinião, e um agradecimento especial à Ellie com a qual troquei emails.

Fui literalmente a primeira pessoa a classificá-lo e a escrever algo sobre ele no Goodreads, o que me deixa muito feliz por ter sido escolhida para resenhar e divulgar este livro.

O mundo precisa de conhecer esta história. O mundo precisa de conhecer todas as histórias destes refugiados e de perceber que existem pessoas que ainda estão em constante luta pelos direitos humanos mais básicos. Quantos Daes não existem por este mundo fora...? 

Classificação: ★★★★★

Nunca tinha lido nada destes autores, por isso este livro está enquadrado na categoria "Luzinhas de Natal | Um livro de um autor que nunca leste" do Christmas in the Books 2 (para saberes mais sobre esta maratona acede ao separador que está no topo do blog).

Beijinhos, Brenda

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Synopsis:
From multi-award-winning writer Ellie Crowe and bestselling children's author Scott Peters comes a gripping survival story about a young refugee's escape from North Korea. 

14-year-old Dae has been taught that his country's leaders are like gods and that their country is the best in the world. Yet all his family has to eat is watery porridge made from grass. At school, Dae and his friends bow before the leaders' giant portraits, their clothes flapping around their bony limbs. Dae begins to question why their rulers look so well fed.

When Dae's father is hauled away, he's left to fend for himself. The young teen dreams of saving his father. If he can cross the border into China, maybe he can earn enough money to bribe the jailors. But can he make it past the deadly border guards and high fences?

Does he have what it takes to escape?

If you like survival stories, you'll love this book.

What a book...! I'm writing this right after I finished reading the book and I am completely amazed by what I just read.

In this book we are told the story of Dae, a 14-year-old boy who is literally starving to death in North Korea. Everything is controlled in this country, each step is monitored by their neighbors or colleagues. There are sessions of self-criticism where, in addition to having to list some disregard for some law, they also have to point a finger at their colleagues and denounce them. That is, imagine living in a world where there is no one you can trust, because the person will have to blame you sooner or later to survive.

Imagine a country were not taking your feces to school, to fertilize the fields, is a disrespect for the law!

Dae's father, tired of not being able to feed his family, tries to get around the situation, but is arrested for attempted theft. Then the boy's mother leaves town to find a way to get her husband out of jail. So Dae is alone and tries to survive on his own. When the opportunity to cross the border into China arises, Dae sees an opportunity to escape and to be free. And that's when the story of Dae's escape begins!

What struck me the most was this young man's strength and courage throughout the story. Even in the face of adversity Dae managed to stay positive all the time.

The country lives completely closed in on itself, its Leaders are Gods on Earth and it is taught that the Americans and South Koreans are the devil and the cause of all the problems of North Korea.

This book reminded me of The Hunger Games and Snow's government. It reminded me of Gilead of "A Handmaid's Tale" and reminded me of all the stories I've read about the atmosphere of terror that has been experienced in the World Wars and which are more commonly spoken than these cases that are occurring right now in North Korea (and in other countries).

After all it seems like some dystopians books aren't so dystopian, right? The stories described in them are really happening on the other side of the world.

The holocaust was a shameful moment for the history of mankind, it is true, but we can not change the past, only the present and the future. And it is clear that the country described in this book has serious problems and needs urgent changes. And just like this country there are many others.

Although this story isn't really the real experience of someone who escaped this regime is, according to Ellie, a compilation of refugee stories and accurate facts. It crushes me to learn that there are real people trying to survive in North Korea where everything is forbidden, or that there are people who try to escape and fail... More than anything, it is devastating to know that in the 20th century there are people who live without freedom.

With this book we can feel on our skin what it is like to be a refugee and how important it is to help others in this process of escape towards freedom.

It's a short children/juvenile book, my edition has 83 pages, but it's still such a great book, so full of history! It was published on November 29th and you can buy it here: Amazon .

I would like to thank the authors for giving me this copy so that I would bring you my opinion, and a special thanks to Ellie with whom I have exchanged emails.

I was literally the first person to rank this book and write something about it in Goodreads, which makes me very happy to have been chosen to review and publish this book.

The world needs to know this story. The world needs to know all the stories of these refugees and realize that there are people who are still fighting for the most basic human rights. How many Daes exist in this world...?

Rating: ★★★★★

I have never read anything from these authors before, so this book fits into the category "Christmas Lights | A book from an author that you've never read" of the Christmas in the Books 2 challenge (to know more about this marathon, go to the tab at the top of the page).

Kisses, Brenda

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