In the Tunnel
CCBC Review:
Alternating timelines tell the story of Myung-gi as a nine-year-old living with his parents and sister in the Korean north following the Soviet occupation, and as a 16-year-old soldier for the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) in 1952, trapped in a collapsed tunnel. Seven years earlier, Myung-gi, an avid reader, treasures the forbidden novels Ahpa secretly brings home for him. As life under Communist rule becomes more oppressive and the Korean War begins, Ahpa secretly plans their family’s escape to the south. On a day when Myung-gi was supposed to be keeping watch but is distracted by a book, Ahpa is taken by North Korean soldiers. Myung-gi, his sister, and his mother make the treacherous journey south, hoping Ahpa escaped and they can reunite with him in Busan, but Ahpa never arrives. In the years that follow they live in a make-shift home, earning money for food any way they can. Myung-gi’s guilt over Ahpa’s capture fuels his decision to the join the army; in battle after only ten days of training, he ends up trapped in the dark tunnel along with an “enemy” soldier. Facing death, he accepts that he’s unlikely to ever be reunited with Ahpa. In an epilogue, an elderly Ahpa, still living in North Korea, receives a smuggled copy of Myung-gi’s memoir and learns that his son now lives in the United States. This companion novel to the earlier Brother’s Keeper was inspired by the author’s desire to recognize child soldiers of the Korean War. ©2023 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 10-14
Age Range:
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Books and Reading
Economic Hardship and Poverty
Grief and Loss
Guilt and Remorse
Korean War
Koreans and Korean Americans
Politics and Political Systems
Survival
Diversity subject:
Asian
Psychiatric Disability/Condition
Publisher:
Holiday House
Publish Year: 2023
Pages: 332
ISBN: 9780823450398
CCBC Location: Fiction, Lee