Never Fall Down: A Novel Paperback – December 23, 2013

As was true with her National Book Award finalist, SOLD, Patricia McCormick uses her fiction writing skills and her journalistic writing ability to share a child victim's harrowing tale. In this case it is Arn Chorn-Pond, survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia. NEVER FALL DOWN, named for one of the first things the captured boy learned to survive, travels the full arc of his experience, from the last days of normalcy before the Khmer Rouge takeover through the years of captivity, forced labor, and eventual conscription as a Khmer Rouge "soldier" when the Vietnamese invaded.And as was the case with Sold, this is a young adult book with some adult themes, in this case, violence, death, murder, and other atrocities. At times the descriptions get quite graphic. Adding to the effect is McCormick's decision to tell it as Arn himself would after he has learned but not mastered all the nuances of English. The contrast of this young, naive voice in broken English and the brutality it witnesses is stark, adding to the effect. Example:"We walk three day. One long line of kid, all in black, one black snake with five hundred eye. Very tire, my leg heavy like boulder, my mind think only of the next step, then one more step, just walking, no thinking, no caring. Some kid die on the way. They die walking. Some kid cry for their parent or say they tire, they hungry. They get shot or maybe stab with the bayonet. Now we don't even look. We only walk."In its way, Don't Fall Down reminded me of Elie Wiesel's Night, where we start with a healthy, happy boy, and end with a shadow, physically and mentally. It would make a perfect companion read, in fact. It is short, easy to read, and wise in its straightforward style of narration. McCormick lets the horror speak for itself. And, as was the case with the young Wiesel in 1943 Hungary, Arn faces choiceless choices in his bid to survive, to someday reunite with his family. He uses considerable guile around adults and learns how to make himself valuable through his musical ability. Still, Death is at his elbow most every page of the book, and the motives of various Khmer Rouge soldiers are always suspect, lending the book a sustained sense of horror and suspense.As you might expect, happy endings are hard to come by for people who go through such trauma. Arn is no exception. Author McCormick spent countless hours interviewing not only Chorn-Pond but surviving family members, his American adoptive family members, and even former members of the Khmer Rouge he interacted with. Many of these people now live in a northern enclave of Cambodia, and McCormick and Chorn-Pond flew together to meet the most important one for what must have been a memorable reunion and interview to make this book as accurate as possible."I asked Arn difficult, probing questions about his actions," McCormick writes in the Author's Note, " -- the heroic and the horrific. I verified, as much as possible, the truth of his story. Then I wrote his story as a novel. Like all survivors, Arn can recall certain experiences in chilling detail; others he can tell only in vague generalities... So I added to his recollections with my own research -- and my own imagination -- to fill in the missing pieces. The truth, I believe, is right there between the lines."It's a sobering truth, too -- one that once again reminds us there are no depths to which man is incapable of sinking.

This is a must read. Should be required reading. The Cambodian genocide was horrific but the young boy’s story of survival is very inspiring.

I have visited the killing fields outside Phnom Penh, walking alone on pathways that wound among the large open pits that held thousands of victims of the inhumanly cruel Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge. It was chilling to realize the white fragments I walked on in the gray soil were remnants of all those bones so heartlessly buried there in those mass graves. There is a very tall granite and glass obelisk near the gates that holds shelves of skulls--just skulls-- from ground to tip. A sign tells you to remove your shoes before climbing the few steps to the apron that surrounds this obelisk, as it is a sacred place honoring the memory of all those victims of these years. You cannot leave this shrine with dry eyes. Arn's story gave me at least a thread of understanding of the simple innocence of his people that made them so easy for a Pol Pot to overwhelm. His descriptions of all the emotions, the good and evil characters he encountered, the unbelievable will to survive physically and psychologically were mind-bending to me. Every Cambodian guide and taxi driver I talked to told me of the parents or siblings they had lost. But, like Arn, they are rebuilding their lives, families, cities and country with such strength and patriotism. This is an inspiring take of the survival of humanity against terrible odds. I love these brave people.

Many who work in the education field will be familiar with the issues of ethnicity and class as they relate to teaching English writing. In this book, the author writes that every time she tried to impose the rules of grammar and syntax on Chorn's story, his voice was lost. The book is published in "broken" English. Only people who spend a lot of time talking with people of "limited" English will know the unique descriptive and emotive power of these accents, word choices, and the simple "less is more" aspect of English as a second or third language. As an Asian-American, it was wonderful to read a book written in the voices of my first generation family. It is a voice we don't hear enough. This book will show kids that learning to read and write is about communicating things that are important, and ebonics, accents, etc. do not need to hold them back, but, in the end, will make their writing and their stories more powerful.This is an empowering book for anyone of immigrant descent, highly recommended for English teachers who work with diverse student bodies and especially for those whose students may not be exposed to such diversity. "A people without history is like a tree without roots." Asian-American kids need to know their history, and at the end of the day, the American bombs in Cambodia make this everyone's history. It must be respected and understood. And in an era of post-9/11 anti-immigrant prejudice, it doesn't hurt for people to have a little insight into why people may come to this country.

Arn 11yrs old lives in the Cambodian country, suddenly the whole town is on the move with anything they can carry, Arn does not know where they go or why, he finds his family who also do not know, the rebels known as the Khmer Rouge are herding them all to the killing fieldsThey are forced to grow rice but are starved themselves, executions are bloody usually a cleaver to the head for men , women and children, Arn survives because an old man teaches him an instrument and the rebels like his musicArrn is forced to join the Khmer Rouge and becomes a murdererRead on to hear of his long journey to peace

I got this book at 5pm and was finished in just under three hours, I simply could not put this book down,from start to finish it is simply fantastic 10 out of 10 all the way. This book takes you on fantastic journey. Top marks all the way thank you Patricia McCormick for bringing this sad and interesting story to light. One of the best books I have had the pleasure to read in a long time. I have now given the book to my wife to read and like me she is reading none stop.

This book was amazing. I visited Cambodia this summer and despite seeing and learning about the country's recent history, nothing hit me the way the book did especially the epilogue. Literally gave me goosebumps. I would reconmend everyone read this book even if you have no interest in the Khmer Rouge Genocide just because it is so emotional and eye opening.

This book had me intrigued from start to finish and I was glad to read at the end where the author got the information from. It was harrowing in places and unbelievable and then to find that the majority of the facts were true was very thought provoking.

Moving story