Time Travel Thursday

       5 Flames

Good Evening Fellow Book Dragons,

We are bracing for a big winter storm here. I hope we all stay warm, dry and well supplied with food and tea. I have a stack of Dragon Food right here on my table.

Our gem this evening came to me in a small jewel box with designs of intricate dragons carved into it. When I opened the box, a wail, like many voices in fear and pain rose forth in a moment. In the bottom of the box was one small grain of rice. When I touched it, the grain broke apart and the tale streamed out.

This is first time Dragon Feeder Yeonmi Park’s “In Order to Live”. It is a North Korean girl’s tale of her journey to freedom and how she rescued her father and mother.

Yeonmi and her family lived under two generations of the Kim Family. Her parents resorted to working the black market to survive. After a period of relative prosperity, as prosperous as one can be in a country with little electricity, starvation wages and barely any food to be had. Eventually Yeonmi’s family had to escape or go to prison, reeducation camps or be killed or starve to death. This is the tale of that escape.

Yeonmi holds nothing back as she weaves the ugly details of human trafficking in China, the distinct possibility of being returned to North Korea and certain death and surviving people who made their money off souls and flesh. I could feel the fear and heartache pouring out of the pages. I cried with her when her dear father died. I found myself holding my breath at each escape and every border.

Yeonmi’s is not just her story, but every person’s who lives under Communist or evil regimes. People who just want to live life in freedom and prosperity. This should be required reading for every highschool student, along with “The Diary of Ann Frank”, “The Pale Faced Lie” by David Crow and “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. I encourage each and every one of us to donate a copy to our local highschool library, gift it to every teen we know and our churches or synagogues.

Yeonmi can also be followed on her YouTube channel: The Voice of North Korea. 

Until next time, I remain, your humble Book Dragon,

Drakon T. Longwitten

Thank you to my Mate for gifting me this as a Christmas present. As always, my opinions are my own.