Young Reader Review
Thanks so much to Annie, who sent me this wonderful response:
Read MoreI just finished In The Shadow Of The Sun today (after finishing my ELA test, which was utterly terrible) and it was one of the best books I’ve ever read.
About a month ago I was with my grandparents at lunch and, much to my grandmother’s dismay, I brought the book into the restaurant with me. I was sipping raspberry iced tea and reading a mile a minute when my grandmother asked how the book was.
I believe my exact words were, “It’s so, so good. It’s one of those books you get sucked into after the second page.” As I was desperate for more I went on to read the author’s note, which I don’t think I’ve ever done before in a book.
Congratulations on your first novel! Keep them coming, your first was spectacular!!
p.s. One part I forgot to tell you: The book was at the book fair at my school, and as soon as I saw it I dragged my friend over to the shelf and talked about it so much that instead of calling it by its title she started calling it ‘the good book’, after what I’d called it so many times.
Honors!
Launching a book can feel as if you’re putting a small vessel into a vast sea, in the midst of thousands of other craft. Will it ever be seen again?
Upon its release last year, In the Shadow of the Sun was chosen as a
In the past month, the book has been honored on four new lists:
🔅Bank Street College of Education, The Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2018 Edition
🔅NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2018
🔅International Literacy Association Teachers’ Choice
🔅Maine Student Book Award Nominee
I’m deeply grateful for these forms of recognition, and all the readers who may find my book because of its appearance on one of these lists.
Read MoreA Young Reader Responds
Thanks to Jade, who sent me this note:
Read MoreIn the Shadow of the Sun is a really good book. One of my favorites. I think the fact that this book takes place in North Korea is one reason why it makes the book good and mysterious in a way. I’m reading your book again! … I know people say never to judge a book by its cover, but I think the cover of your book explains the story pretty well! I like this book because of how you make the girl interested in Korea and the boy is more eh about going to Korea. North Korea! I think this book is suspenseful, sad, and in the end happy.
“A nail-biter of an adventure”
Thanks to reviewer and middle school librarian Lynn Rutan, in The Booklist Reader:
Looking for a heart-thumping thriller? Anne Sibley O’Brien’s In the Shadow of the Sun (2017) was already a great choice, but then the political situation with North Korea got even worse, heightening its timeliness and intensity.
Twelve-year-old Mia Andrews and her surly older brother Simon—who we learn has been “mad since August”—are touring North Korea with their aid-worker father, who wants the family to see where he works and share some quality time. Mia and Simon find this a very odd vacation destination, and their father is soon arrested. Tension mounts when Mia discovers that a package she received contains a phone with extremely dangerous photographs stored in it.
The siblings set about to save their father and themselves by getting the phone across the Chinese border. Somehow, these teenagers will have to traverse one of the most repressive countries in the world with little money, no allies, and a scant understanding of the language. Throw in Simon’s all-American looks, and this proves an almost-impossible undertaking.
Life-or-death adventure and a nothing-is-as-it-seems plot would be enough to make this a promising read for middle-schoolers. O’Brien, however, supplies a lot more to take away. She juxtaposes Mia’s experiences as a South Korean adoptee in a largely white Connecticut town against her trip experience where she looks like everyone else. She depicts Mia and Simon’s sibling relationship wonderfully: Mia feels, rightly, that Simon dismisses her abilities, thoughts, and potential contributions, so watching Mia’s personal growth and increasing self-confidence becomes all the more satisfying. Interspersed throughout the adventure are the reflections of various North Korean citizens, which help provide a greater understanding of the country and its suffering people.
O’Brien, who grew up in South Korea, has delivered a nail-biter of an adventure that is also outstandingly researched and packed with fascinating information and insights. Buckle your seat belts, this one’s a wild ride!
Read More