In the Tunnel

By Julie Lee

A young refugee faces war and loss, risking everything to find his missing father.

4.1/5 Goodreads · 284 ratings

304 pages

$18.99Save 5%

In stock. Also at Amazon or Bookshop.

Bookroo's summary

In war-torn Korea, young Myung-gi faces a harrowing choice: escape without his abducted father or risk everything to find him. As his family struggles to survive, Myung-gi's journey leads him to the front lines, where fear and bravery collide. Can he reunite his family, or will the war's brutality shatter his hopes forever?

From the publisher

Trapped in an enemy tunnel, a young refugee experiences the Korean War firsthand in this searing story of survival, loss, and hope, a companion to the Freeman Award-winning novel Brother’s Keeper. Myung-gi knows war is coming: War between North and South Korea. Life in communist North Korea has become more and more unbearable–there is no freedom of speech, movement, association, or thought–and his parents have been carefully planning the family’s escape. But when his father is abducted by the secret police, all those plans fall apart. How can Myung-gi leave North Korea without his dad? Especially when he believes that the abduction was his fault? Set during a cataclysmic war which shaped the world we know today, this is the story of one boy’s coming-of-age during a time when inhumanity, lawlessness, and terror reigned supreme. Myung-gi, his mother, and his twelve-year-old sister Yoomee do everything they can to protect one another. But gentle, quiet, bookish Myung-gi has plans to find his father at any cost–even if it means joining the army and being sent to the front lines, where his deepest fears await him. A Bank Street Best Book of the Year - Outstanding MeritA Junior Library Guild Gold Standard SelectionA Book Riot Best New Book of 2023”An absolute must-read.”–Booklist, starred review”Vivid, powerful.”–School Library Journal”Moving.”–Publishers Weekly”Searing. . . . Beautifully written.”–Book Riot

At a glance