I am thrilled to be
hosting a spot on the IN THE TUNNEL by Julie Lee Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my
post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About the Book:
Author: Julie Lee
Pub. Date: May 30, 2023
Publisher: Holiday House
Formats: Hardcover,
eBook
Pages: 304
Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/IN-THE-TUNNEL
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 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A 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
In
the Tunnel
By Julie Lee
Excerpt for Rockstar Book Tours
Excerpt from In the Tunnel / Text
copyright © 2023 by Julie Lee.
Reproduced with permission from Holiday House Publishing, Inc. All rights
reserved.
CHAPTER
1
October
1952: Myung‐gi, Age 16
I am determined, unstoppable,
body-flinging-down determined
on this thousand, ten thousand ri I shall go.
Leap quick as an arrow up
this road and go, and let
the burning mountain, the mountain burning
raise its columns of smoke.
—Kim Sowol, Thousand, Ten Thousand Ri
This is the end.
Myung‐gi knows
this because everything is in slow motion—bodies flying, mortar shells
dropping, the lieutenant’s mouth moving. And all he can see is his
father—sitting in his office, wearing his principal’s suit jacket. Sorry,
Ahpa, he tries to say, but his father’s face disappears in gun smoke.
Advance
forward! To the top! Go, go, go!
It’s the
lieutenant. Lit up by searchlights. His arm thrusting wildly toward the top of
the hill. But in the autumn dark, the enemy crawl out of hidden foxholes—right
behind the line of advancing South Korean soldiers.
“Watch out!
Lieutenant!” Myung‐gi runs up the rocky slope, carrying his rifle on his back
like a satchel of books. Because he barely got training, never fired at anyone.
He didn’t sign up to be a front‐line soldier. He signed up to find his father.
Bullets whiz past
his ear. He ducks, dodges, prays for dumb luck.
But still he
roars, joining the chorus of others. Louder than he’s ever shouted. Harder than
he’s ever pushed. And for a second, it feels right.
Until a grenade
flashes before Myung‐gi’s eyes, blinding him.
He trips, rolls,
drops his weapon, loses his helmet. His ankle snaps. “No! Myung‐gi!” someone
shouts. It sounds like Gum Boy—the only other recruit who never knows what’s
going on. All he does is chew gum all day and hop onto the Americans’ Patton
tank to gawk at all the moving parts. Why so much worry in his voice?
Myung‐gi is
falling.
Down the hill. The
mountainside jabbing, pounding, scraping him raw.
He lands in an
opening—a gigantic rabbit hole—and crawls in deep. He pictures himself in a
cross‐section of the earth, positioned on all fours, pink and hairless. But no,
this is no animal burrow— this is a tunnel, an enemy tunnel. A dusty wind blows
in his face, stifles his breathing, narrows the walls. He coughs and sputters.
A terrible crash
slams the hillside. Myung‐gi flattens himself, covers his head. Bits of rock
and dirt rain down on him. Parts of the tunnel are collapsing. He can no longer
see the way he came in. And it’s not just because of his glasses, which are now
cracked. Walls are caving—
Until it stops.
About Julie:
Julie Lee, a
marketer-turned-writer, lives in an Atlanta suburb with her three children and
her husband. A first-generation American, her mother escaped North Korea during
the Korean War and later immigrated to the United States. Julie holds an MFA in
Writing for Children & Young Adults from VCFA, as well as a BA in History
from Cornell.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads |
Amazon
Giveaway Details:
1 winner will
receive a finished copy of IN THE TUNNEL, US Only.
Ends June 20th, midnight EST.
a Rafflecopter giveawayTour Schedule:
Week One:
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6/5/2023 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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6/5/2023 |
Excerpt |
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6/6/2023 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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6/6/2023 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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6/7/2023 |
IG Review |
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6/7/2023 |
IG Review |
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6/8/2023 |
Review |
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6/8/2023 |
IG Review |
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6/9/2023 |
Excerpt |
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6/9/2023 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
Week Two:
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6/12/2023 |
IG Review |
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6/12/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
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6/13/2023 |
Review |
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6/13/2023 |
IG Review |
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6/14/2023 |
Review |
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6/14/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
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6/15/2023 |
IG Review |
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6/15/2023 |
Review/IG Post |
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6/16/2023 |
IG Review/LFL Drop
Pic/TikTok Post |
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6/16/2023 |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
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