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. 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. With only each other, 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.