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

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Introduction-Chapter 5

Reading Check

1. In what year did the Japanese sign a treaty that would eventually end the Joseon dynasty on the Korean Peninsula?

2. In what year did South Korea become the “Republic of Korea” and separate from North Korea?

3. What is one of the two strange omens that Sungju witnesses in January 1997, in the time of mourning after Kim il-Sung has passed away?

4. Who is Bo-Cho given to when Sungju and his family leave for their “vacation”?

5. In what city in the countryside do Sungju and his family stay for their “vacation”?

6. What animal do Young-bum and Chulho discuss hunting to keep from starving?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Describe some of the propaganda Sungju is taught in school about Kim il-Sung’s power and why he is North Korea’s most revered leader.

2. Why doesn’t Sungju cry at Kim il-Sung’s funeral? Why is this moment significant, in the larger story?  

Paired Resource

“North Korean Defector Recalls Field Trip to Execution”  

• In this clip from 2018, CNN interviews Sungju Lee, the author of Every Falling Star.
• As discussed in the clip, President Trump was criticized for meeting with Kim Jong-un, especially so soon after the death of Otto Warmbier. Do you agree or disagree with President Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong-un? Provide support for your opinion.

Chapters 6-10

Reading Check

1. Where does abeoji work after they move to the countryside?

2. One of the women at the execution reminds Sungju of whom?

3. What possession of his does Sungju sell in order to buy his family food?

4. What are yu-reong?

5. When Sungju hears his mother whispering in bed, what is she doing?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. When Sungju mentions to Young-bum that he wants to return to Pyongyang, what does Young-bum explain to him?

2. Cite two examples in the text that show how Sungju’s relationships with Young-bum and Chulho are becoming more than friendship, and something closer to brotherhood.

Paired Resource

"How Did the North Korean Famine Happen?" from the Wilson Center

• This article examines the underlying causes of North Korea’s devastating famine in the 1990s, which is estimated to have killed millions of North Koreans.
• How did Wealth Disparity influence which North Koreans were affected by the famine? Consider also how Wealth Disparity affected how information regarding the famine was disseminated among citizens of the country, alongside what factors unnecessarily prolonged the famine.

Chapters 11-15

Reading Check

1. What is a kotjebi?

2. What does Young-bum realize is the most lucrative means for him and Sungju to earn money?

3. What ancient symbol of his ancestors does Sungju see in Chapter 14?

4. Sangchul is known for what special talent?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Under what conditions does Young-bum agree to let Sungju stay with him and his grandmother at their house?

2. Describe the razor technique that Young-bum and Sungju use to steal.

Paired Resource

“Orphaned and Homeless in North Korea”

• This CNN clip tells the story of Yoon Hee, a North Korean woman who lived on the streets as a child before fleeing her homeland for China, and ultimately landed in a homeless shelter in Seoul.
• As this clip highlights, the phenomenon of kotjebi was—and continues to be—a widespread issue in North Korea, where so many parents are forced to abandon their children.
• Did this video give you any new perspective on the plight of kotjebi? Does it give you any insight into Sungju’s or the rest of the kotjebi’s behavior?

Chapters 16-20

Reading Check

1. What is sool?

2. What mode of transportation does the gang use to leave for the city of Chenongjin?

3. In what city do Sungju and his gang find success in overthrowing the local kotjebi?

4. What is Sungju’s code name if he is apprehended by the police?

5. When Sungju and his gang arrive in Rajin-Seonbong, they are confronted by a gang of drug-addicted kotjebi boys. What substance are those kotjebi boys addicted to?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Young-bum get angry with Chulho in Chapter 16, and what secret does Chulho reveal about himself?

2. What are the circumstances that lead to Myeonchul’s death, and what is the larger symbolic meaning of his death?  

Paired Resource

“A North Korean Spy Chief Who Defected Said He Helped Manufacture Crystal Meth to Make Money for the Regime”

• In this 2021 Business Insider article, a former North Korean spy discusses how he helped build a crystal meth lab in order to raise funds for Kim Jong-il, the father of Kim Jong-un.
• Crystal meth production and the production of other drugs peaked during “Arduous March,” which is the name for the famine in North Korea between 1994 to 1998.
• What is the relationship between hunger, desperation, and poverty and drug use? List the reasons why the North Korean regime might want to have a drug-addicted, impoverished, lower class of citizens. How does this relate to the novel’s theme of Wealth Disparity?

Chapters 21-25

Reading Check

1. Why do Sungju and his gang flee the port town of Eodaejin?

2. What is the nickname of the tall man in Pohwang who wants to recruit Sungju and his gang to join his own gang of kotjebi?

3. Big Brother teaches Sungju and his gang to intimidate the other kotjebi by stabbing them with what object?

4. A merchant approaches Chulho in Chapter 23 and asks him to steal what fruit from a nearby farm?

5. What is the cryptic message that the nightflower tells Sungju in Kimchaek?

6. Who does Sungju see in his dream in Chapter 25?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. When Sungju and his gang enter the market in Eodaejin, how do they use the power of folk stories to their advantage?

2. How does Young-bum inadvertently get signed up for military duty?

Chapter 26-Epilogue

Reading Check

1. One morning, Sungju hears the voice of the now-deceased Young-bum telling him to go to what city?

2. Sungju unexpectedly meets which of his relatives in Chapter 27?

3. After Sungju leaves his kotjebi gang, what work does he begin doing instead?

4. Where has Sungju’s father been hiding for the past 4 years, as Sungju learns in Chapter 29?

5.  In the airport in South Korea, what tips authorities off that Sungju is a North Korean defector?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How is Sungju’s relationship to his kotjebi gang tested in the final section of the book?

2. Briefly describe what Sungju ultimately learns had happened to his father when he left Sungju and his family in 1998.

Paired Resource

“Every Falling Star by Sungju Lee”

• In this brief video created by Abrams Books, Sungju Lee gives an overview and recap of his book.
• He emphasizes that he has hope that he will meet his parents again one day.
• In the video, Sungju says,“I refuse to give up hope, to anyone.” Do you think the novel ends on a message of hope? Why or why not? How does his message relate to the theme of Hope and Disillusionment in Institutions?

Recommended Next Reads

The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story

• In this 2015 memoir, Hyeonseo Lee describes her experience fleeing North Korea just before her eighteenth birthday, to become an illegal immigrant in China.
• Sharing themes of Wealth Disparity and the “Haves” and “Have Nots,” as well as Propaganda Versus Traumatic Reality, The Girl with Seven Names tells another story of a young person who, like Sungju, must flee their homeland.
• The Girl with Seven Names on SuperSummary

In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom

• Published in 2015, this memoir by Yeonmi Park recounts previously untold facets of her experiencing fleeing North Korea to become a human trafficker in China, before finally settling in South Korea.
• Having experienced extreme brutality in two countries, In Order to Live strongly speaks to the theme of Hope and Disillusionment in Institutions.
• In Order to Live on SuperSummary