Book Review: In Order to Live

MHS Library has a new shipment of books in for student's to check out and read and a good number of them are books that qualify for the Global Certificate. In Order to Live is one of those books.

Author, Yeonmi Park was born in Hyesan, North Korea near the northern border with the Yalu River. Her book is divided into three parts and tells her journey from escaping North Korea and what she needed to do "in order to live" and reach freedom in South Korea. Part one focuses on Yeonmi's childhood as she talks about growing up in North Korea and she gives great cultural background of the social structure in North Korean society, Juchte - a self help religion that worships the Kim family, and how her family survived by smuggling metals and materials throughout the country.

Yeonmi describes her decision to flea her country and her experiences with her mother as they traveled across the Yalu River, became trapped in Human Trafficking in China and finally escaped into Mongolia and traveled to South Korea. Throughout her experience she is able to survive with the goal of reuniting her family (mother, father and sister) and finding freedom.

In Order to Live is a great first hand experience of North Korean life and the challenges of escaping the oppression of the North Korean regime. The book is not too "heavy" of a read and is a great introduction to the experience of North Korean defectors. The author Yeonmi Park has become a Human Rights advocate and has a number of interviews and presentations that can be found online and on youtube for those interested in a deeper understanding of her experience and the experience of other defectors.