Tags
book, book review, historical, non-fiction, novel, war, young adult
Never Fall Down (2012)
by Patricia McCormick
Hardcover Edition
Publication Date: May 8th, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (Imprint of HarperCollins)
Buy a copy via Amazon.
Synopsis from Goodreads.
When soldiers arrive at his hometown in Cambodia, Arn is just a kid, dancing to rock ‘n’ roll, hustling for spare change, and selling ice cream with his brother. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever. Arn is separated from his family and assigned to a labor camp: working in the rice paddies under a blazing sun, he sees the other children, weak from hunger, malaria, or sheer exhaustion, dying before his eyes. He sees prisoners marched to a nearby mango grove, never to return. And he learns to be invisible to the sadistic Khmer Rouge, who can give or take away life on a whim.
Based on the true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, this is an achingly raw and powerful novel about a child of war who becomes a man of peace, from National Book Award finalist Patricia McCormick
My Thoughts:
I’m surprised Never Fall Down hasn’t received much attention despite being a National Book Award finalist. I suspect it’s because of it’s categorization as a young-adult historical/non-fiction that just doesn’t sound as appealing against the host of dystopians cropping up lately. But Never Fall Down is a dystopian of its own, complete with information suppression, ruthless tyranny, moral ambiguities, twisted ideals, and a young hero’s desperate fight to survive another day. Despite being a mere two hundred pages Never Fall Down is easily much more frightening than any dystopian you’ll ever read because these horrifying events are real. Never Fall Down will terrify you, but its grit will pick you back up and leave you with a tear-stained cheek.
Posted by Lilian @ A Novel Toybox | Filed under Book Reviews, Grade A, Young Adult