Strange the Dreamer

Taylor, Laini.  Strange the Dreamer.  2017.  New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Raised by Monks, Lazlo Strange was a foundling.  He and many other orphans were tossed into the back of a wagon and taken to the monks.  Nobody knew where they came from, or who their parents were.

By the age of five, Lazlo had become obsessed with the legends surrounding a town with no name.  At one time, the town had a name, but it had been forgotten.  Curious about the town, Lazlo spent any extra time that he could find researching legends and stories about this mysterious town that people refer to simply as "Weep".

Fast forward 15 or so years, and Lazlo is working as an assistant in the Library.  During the day, Lazlo finds the materials that scholars need for their research.  In his spare time, he searches for any information he can find about Weep, sharing the information with nobody, but carefully collating it all into a collection of books he has assembled from scraps of paper found in trash bins about the library.

One magic day, a delegation arrives from the mysterious city of Weep, searching for people to help them solve their mysterious "problem".  They say nothing about the nature of the problem, but they interview all of the scholars, searching for people who might be able to help them with this unnamed foe.  While Lazlo was not interviewed, he managed to plead his case to the leaders of the caravan and is included as a member of the Tizerkane, the guard of the caravan.

Upon arriving in the mysterious city, the problem facing the citizens immediately become apparent.  Every member of the delegation begins work on their own specific contribution, attempting to figure out how to make the problem go away.  But Lazlo Strange - the odd, mysterious, orphan - just might hold the key to the solution.  But at what cost?

Author Website: http://www.lainitaylor.com/

Find this book in your local public library: https://www.worldcat.org/title/strange-the-dreamer-01/oclc/980908261&referer=brief_results

Every Falling Star

Lee, Sungju.  Every Falling Star. 2016. New York: Abrams Books.

Sungju lived in Pyongyang with his family in the Nineties.  His father was an important man, and Sungju was being raised to be a part of the party system.  He lived in an apartment where everyone had their own room, and their lives were comfortable.

Sungju's father disagreed with the party line, and the family found themselves exiled to the northernmost reaches of North Korea.  Living off of savings in a hut with no electricity and no central heat in the middle of a deadly famine, the family fell into hard times and stayed there.

Sungju's father snuck across the border into China with hopes of selling his medals and bringing home food.  After several months, Sungju and his mother realized that he was not returning.  When Sungju awoke one morning to find his mother gone, the struggle to survive began.

Forced to run the streets and steal food, Sungju's life became a living nightmare.  He never knew where his next meal was coming from, and survival became a daily struggle.  How Sungju survived the streets of North Korea and escaped to safety in the South is a story that everyone needs to hear.



Find this book in your local public library: https://www.worldcat.org/title/every-falling-star-the-true-story-of-how-i-survived-and-escaped-north-korea/oclc/972770913&referer=brief_results