Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea

Introduction-Chapter 5

Reading Check

1. 1876 (Introduction)

2. 1948 (Introduction)

3. The two omens are (1) a streetlight flickers as he walks beneath it and (2) he finds a bird of prey dead on the sidewalk. (Chapter 3)

4. A colleague of Sungju’s father (Chapter 3)

5. Gyeong-seong (Chapter 4)

6. Squirrels (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. In school, Sungju is taught that Kim il-Sung made rice from sand on the shores of the Duman and Amnok rivers, which he used to feed his armies. He also turned pinecones into grenades when his armies lacked weapons. (Chapter 1)

2. Sungju believed Kim il-Sung was a descendant of Dangun, and therefore that he was part deity. Sungju does not cry at the funeral because he is shocked to learn that a deity could die—he did not think this was possible. (Chapter 2)

Chapters 6-10

Reading Check

1. Abeoji works at a factory. (Chapter 6)

2. His mother (Chapter 6)

3. His textbooks (Chapter 7)

4. Cursed ghosts (Chapter 8)

5. Praying (Chapter 8)

Short Answer

1. Young-bum explains that his family did not leave Pyongyang voluntarily. Sungju’s father, who had been a star of the regime, must’ve been something very bad to have been forced out and made to live in the countryside. Returning to Pyongyang is not an option. (Chapter 10)

2. Young-bum looks out for Sungju, as demonstrated in the way he teaches himself how to fend for himself after his parents leave. Chulho gives Sungju insider information on life in the countryside. For example, he mentions that many young girls in their community are sold to Chinese men in hopes that they can send their families food from across the border, while boys are sold to Korean or Chinese farms and mines. (Chapter 7)

Chapters 11-15

Reading Check

1. A street boy (Chapter 11)

2. Become street performers (Chapter 13)

3. An owl (Chapter 14)

4.  His singing ability (Chapter 15)

Short Answer

1. Sungju will help Young-bum steal food from the market. Sungju must find food for himself, and if the two of them only find enough food for one person that day, they’d both give the food to Young-bum’s sick grandmother. (Chapter 12)

2. At the market, Young-bum and Sungju use a small razor to cut tiny holes in fellow marketgoers’ bags. They then slip their fingers in the small holes, stealing either food or won—whatever they can get their hands on. (Chapter 13)

Chapters 16-20

Reading Check

1. Alcohol (Chapter 16)

2. A train (Chapter 17)

3. Pohwang (Chapter 18)

4. Chang (Chapter 18)

5. Meth (Chapter 19)

Short Answer

1. Young-bum suspects that Chulho is stealing from the group. After Sungju catches Chulho visiting a brothel, he admits to the group that the woman who runs the brothel approached him about getting the boys’ assistance in selling her “nightflowers” (her word for “prostitutes”) to customers. (Chapter 16)

2. Myeonchul dies after a street fight in Rajin-Seonbong. Sungju and his gang do their best to save him, but the wounds that the drug-addicted rival kotjebi gang in Rajin-Seonbong inflicted are too severe. Meyonchul was known for his love of daydreaming, and he was arguably the most innocent and child-like of the group. When he dies, it symbolizes the death of any remaining trace of Sungju’s childhood innocence. (Chapter 20)

Chapters 21-25

Reading Check

1. Because it is overrun with kotjebi (Chapter 21)

2. Big Brother (Chapter 21)

3. Metal chopsticks (Chapter 22)

4. Pears (Chapter 23)

5. That “the world is not for living anymore. Tread lightly, for all the dragons now fall” (Chapter 24)

6. Young-bum’s deceased grandmother and a faceless child (Chapter 25)

Short Answer

1. They spread the word among the other kotjebi that they’ve been trained by a “man-gang” for the past year. Those rumors snowball into mythic stories, ones that make Sungju and his gang feared by the other kotjebi. Through folk stories, Sungju realizes that they’ve become legendary among the kotjebi. (Chapter 22)

2. The corrupt manager of the guhoso asks Sungju and his gang, including Young-bum, to help him steal money and cigarettes from a nearby market. Sungju tells Young-bum to impress the manager with his stealth so they can gain his trust and hopefully escape more easily later. Young-bum’s stealth in stealing does impress the manager, but it does not have the intended effect, and the manager signs him up for military duty. (Chapter 23)

Chapter 26-Epilogue

Reading Check

1. Gyeong-seong (Chapter 26)

2. His grandfather (Chapter 27)

3. Making medicines, working the farm, and shepherding livestock (Chapter 28)

4. In China (Chapter 29)

5. His fake passport (Chapter 30)

Short Answer

1. Sungju decides to live with his long-lost grandparents, leaving the rest of his kotjebi gang. The boys tell each other they will always be brothers, even if they are not together in the streets. Sungju promises to visit them at the train station, where they now mostly reside. (Chapter 28)

2. Sungju’s father left for China, and he became trapped there and was unable to return to North Korea to rescue the rest of the family. He then hired a human smuggler to find both Sungju and his mother. Though he eventually found Sungju, Sungju’s father was never able to find his wife/Sungju’s mother. (Epilogue)