Activity Guide from Island Readers & Writers
In October I’ll be traveling from my own Maine island to make author visits at three schools on the islands of Islesboro, North Haven and VinalHaven, hosted by Island Readers & Writers (IRW).
In preparation, IRW has created this wonderful activity guide for In the Shadow of the Sun, including discussion questions, art and writing prompts, companion titles and resources for further exploration.
Here’s one prompt:
Write up a pack list of items you would bring with you on a harrowing trek through the North Korean countryside. Based on Mia and Simon’s experiences, what would be some of the most important supplies to have?
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October 24 Event: “North Korea: The Stories Behind the Conflict”
Date: Tuesday, October 24 – 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: Rines Auditorium, Portland Public Library, Portland, Maine
Audience: Adults, Teens
https://www.portlandlibrary.com/events/north-korea-stories-behind-conflict/
Read More“To Recognize the Humanity of the Other”: Korean Consulate Book Talk
On Thursday, August 24, Consular General Song Jun Ohm hosted a Book Talk featuring In the Shadow of the Sun, at the Korean Consulate in Newton, Massachusetts. An audience representing the Korean American community of Boston, including academics, activists, business people, policy analysts, and others with deep interest in North Korea, were invited to share their expertise and reflections. In his opening remarks, Consul General Ohm said,
As a diplomat, my interest in [Anne’s] novel is about the promotion of understanding Korea and North Korea among Americans… Questions arise such as why North Korea is obsessed with nuclear weapon; why North Korea is attempting to make threats directly to the United States; what is the origin of North Korean hostility to the United States, etc.
… I suggest that we need to see the North Korean people as human beings and see them differently and separate from the dictator and his subordinates. This novel provides me with the new and fresh perspective, because South Koreans also need to understand North Koreans better, and that will be possible when they meet by people to people, not when they see solely through news media or official channel.
I gave a short talk about my childhood in South Korea, the inspiration for the novel, the process of writing it, and the ways in which empathy for the people of North Korea gradually became my focus. Wellesley English professor Yu Jin Ko and Reverend Sung-hyuk Kim followed with reflections on themes in the novel, with Professor Ko emphasizing that “to recognize the humanity of the other” must be the basis for reunification. Audience members responded with their own observations on the importance of a “human-centric” approach to North Korea.
I was deeply honored and humbled by the event, and felt buoyed by the foundation of guidance and support as I communicate the themes of the novel to a wider audience.
BostonKorea.com wrote about the event here.
Read MoreFAQ: Have you ever been to North Korea?
No… and yes.
I’ve never officially visited the DPRK, but I have been in a speedboat cruising along the border with China — in North Korean waters!
I didn’t intend to do this.
In 2015, I was invited to speak at a school in Mongolia and a teachers conference in Malaysia. In between, I took myself to two Chinese cities, Beijing and Dandong. I wanted to see the Great Wall — the regular one, and the piece of it that’s in my novel: Hu Shan, or Tiger Mountain Great Wall.
When I got to my hotel in Dandong and stepped to the window of my room, I discovered that I had a view straight across the river to North Korea, just half a mile away.
Two days later, I set off on my journey to see Hu Shan Great Wall, a 20-minute drive east from Dandong. Through a series of unexpected developments, I ended up in this speedboat with a pilot and two Chinese tourists, cruising west on the Amnok/Yalu River. To the right (north) in this photo is China. To the left (south) is North Korea.
When we got near the North Korean coast, our boat pilot told us to stop taking photos. This is the closest one I got.
To the north, Hu Shan, or Tiger Mountain, from the river. You can barely make out the Wall, climbing the slope.
We got close to this island, to the north of us. I don’t speak Chinese, but I’d picked up the names of the two countries: “China?” I asked, pointing to the island. The pilot shook his head. “North Korea,” he said. So if it was North Korea to our right, and to our left… then we were technically in North Korea!
I waved to the woman on the shore tending goats, and called a greeting to her in Korean. She beamed and waved back.
On the way back to the boat dock, we pulled up to this sandbar where a couple of North Koreans had a boat with products for sale — cigarettes, preserved eggs. When the Chinese men didn’t buy anything, the entrepreneurs muttered curses about them in Korean.
A few hours later, I was sitting on Tiger Mountain Great Wall, looking out over the North Korean countryside (the straight line cutting diagonally through the middle of the photo is the border; beyond is the North Korean island, then the river where we cruised, and finally the North Korean mainland).
So that was it, my trip to North Korea.
“Cultural Accuracy and Historical Veracity”
Thank you to Korean American Readings for this review of In The Shadow of the Sun.
Read More“It’s been a while since I read a book, YA or adult, that captured me so thoroughly that I didn’t want to stop reading, and that I couldn’t stop thinking about until I finished reading it. IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN was such a book. It follows Korean adoptee Mia Andrews and her brother Simon on a tour gone terribly wrong that devolves into a frightening and thrilling journey in one of the most closed countries on earth, North Korea. The author, who grew up in South Korea, has done thorough homework—the story feels authentic and the details ring with the truth of cultural accuracy and historical veracity. The book has a unique structure that includes a smart introduction to North Korea via a “travel guide,” and short interludes of voices of certain North Korean characters whom the youth encounter, if only briefly, on their harrowing journey. This combination brings a wider perspective on Mia and Simon’s dilemma, and gives valuable glimpses of a varied and complex North Korean society and daily life. While the action is a page-turner, Mia’s inner journey of identity and courage, as well as Simon’s, and the shift in their brother-and-sister relationship is equally authentic and compelling. Mirroring today’s political dilemma with issues of trust with North Korea, Mia and Simon are constantly confronted with questions about who to trust, and their instincts and choices are a lesson for us all. A terrific book about how a girl’s daunting journey enriches her inner journey, and a story and setting that expands one’s understanding of this country that is often in the news, and about which little is known.”
—Eugenia Kim, Korean American Readings