<--- Arn Chorn Pond (Never Fall Down is based on his life)
Gripping, powerful, and haunting are the three words that perfectly describes the book Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick. Arn Chorn Pond was only 11 years old when the Khmer Rouge, a communist regime in Cambodia came to power in 1975. They invaded Arn's town and took everyone to make them work day and night. The soldiers killed the weaks, raped the women, and made others work on the rice fields. The book tells the story of the next four years of Arn's life and how he lost his family, but is still managing to survive by being brave and clever. This book is a message to all the teenagers in America and tells us how lucky we are to be living in a country like the USA. Therefore, I recommend this book to everyone especially to the young adults.
The theme of the book is that in order to survive, you have to adapt to your surroundings. You have to pretend like you are not new to whatever you're doing. As soon as the fear comes in your mind and heart, you will die because Arn's biggest fear in the world at that time was fear itself. Whenever the soldiers see fear in your eyes, they kill you.
If the setting took place here in America. then the story would've been completely different. Kids in America never really experienced a genocide or had to go to camps to work for hours. Kids in Cambodia never got free education, but kids in America do. Arn was an illiterate. He had to start working at rice fields at the age of 11. Kids in America don't really value education as much. If they lived in a country like Cambodia, they would know the real meaning of life and how much people struggle just so they can breathe.
Two main characters that change completely in the book are Arn and A Khmer Rouge soldier named Sombo. Arn was a happy guy. They were poor, but he still managed smile throughout the day. Play with his little sister and a rich girl whom he thought he loved. He used to play games with other people for money and he used to sell ice cream. Even though he was a good guy before, he became heartless after he started working on the rice fields. He didn't care about anyone else and he only thought about how to save himself. He forgot about his family for a little while. Khmer Rouge soldiers used to tell him to shoot people and he used to do it without showing any signs of fear because he knew, as soon as the soldiers see fear in his eyes, they will kill him. From being a kid, he became a man at the age of 12. This made me realize how people can change to survive.
Sombo looked like a tough man, but he was only 17. At first he used to kill people ruthlessly. He didn't show mercy to anyone. Deep inside, he was also like Arn. They both want to help other, but they can't. Sombo sees how Arn steals food to give to other kids, but he doesn't say anything to Arn. He was like just like Arn too, but the situation in his country made him a heartless soldier. Gradually, he started being soft and started smiling when he saw other kids smiling even when they are in so much pain. One smile can bring smile to many other faces. If they can smile in these tough conditions, then why can't I? I think that's what Sombo said to himself.
The structure of the book is what I like the most. The author didn't use any complicated vocabulary words. It is very simple and straight forward. She didn't jumble with words that much and it's very easy to read. Like most stories, the book starts on a good note, but then something terrible happens in the middle and as always, it has a happy ending. She used many flashbacks. For example, when on the Khmer Rouge camp, Arn would look outside and think about the time he spent with his family and how he used climb a tree to see the girl he "loves." She made the book very understandable. Her main focus was probably to attract the young adults because most teenagers don't like reading books that has a lot of vocabulary words and long sentences.
The author kept the sentences very simple. For example, if she wanted to say that they are going to the movies, she would say that they are going to the movies instead of making it a long and complicated sentence.
My three favorite sentences from the book:
"Be like the grass. Bend low, then bend lower. The wind blow one way, you blow that way. It blow the other way, you do too. That's the way to survive." (McCormick Pg. 86) In this sentence, Arn's aunt is telling him that in order to survive, do whatever the soldiers tell you to die. You listen to them, you live. You disobey their orders, you die. "Too dangerous to show that we are family. And so I pass by, giving her only one small nod of the head." (McCormick pg 186) In this sentence, Arn was talking about how he saw his little sister but he couldn't talk to her. If he did, they would've killed both Arn and his sister. To save yourself and your family, you have to not recognize each other because when you say your family in such conditions, emotions will grow into you and when you're emotional, you're weak. If you're weak, you can't work. If you can't work, you're worthless so you have to die. "Never fall down." (McCormick pg 201) This is my favorite quote from the book. It taught me that as soon as you fall down, it almost becomes impossible for you to get up. In Arn's case, you fall down, you die. Everybody can relate to this sentence. Nobody wants to fall down. People want to go high and higher. The higher you go, the happier you get. The lower you go, the closer you get to death.
Arn changes from a good guy to a bad guy just so he can survive. The cause was the invasion by a communist regime in Cambodia called Khmer Rouge. The effect was that Arn had to be mentally grown up to survive. He has to be brave and strong. He can't be afraid or else he will die. He had to let an adult female to have sex with him just because she will give him some extra food. The invasion separated him from his family so he had to raise himself.
Another major event was when Arn was given a gun to kill others during the war against Vietnam. The soldiers used little kids to locate the Vietnamese soldiers. Arn killed so many people that he was starting to be a bad guy. He was a pretty popular kid on the block and he started being greedy and tried to gain even more popularity. As a result, he lost a lot of his friends because he was becoming just like the Khmer Rouge soldiers.
Another major event was when Arn came to America. A guy from America went to Cambodia and adopted Arn and two of his other friends. The effects were negative at first because of the built up anger inside him. He would try to fight people even if they say anything as a joke. He just wants to hurt somebody. Later he changed and eventually his anger left him.
"One of the most amazing things about this book is the voice for Arn Chorn-Pond created by Patricia McCormick." (Suzanne, goodreads.com)
"The accent as she writes it rings so true; the vocabulary sounds realistic for an English language learner." (Suzanne, goodreads.com)
"the blending of his biographical recollections from interviews with her and the story that she weaves from that with her research so seamlessly incorporated is heartrending." (Suzanne, goodreads.com)
I completely agree with all those phrases. The voice of Arn was weak, yet powerful. The vocabulary she uses are very realistic and easy to comprehend. She also did an amazing job with her research.
Conclusion: I think this book should be read by everyone especially the kids here in America. When they read it, they will start to value their lives a little bit more. Some kids try to kill themselves because of family problems, girl problems, etc, but the kids in countries like Cambodia would do anything to survive. We need to learn that if they can survive through such hard times, then we can survive through the worst of everything. We need to value our life and look around to see what we have and what we can be. Read this book to experience something that you don't want to experience. When I was reading it, I was feeling the pain.
Gripping, powerful, and haunting are the three words that perfectly describes the book Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick. Arn Chorn Pond was only 11 years old when the Khmer Rouge, a communist regime in Cambodia came to power in 1975. They invaded Arn's town and took everyone to make them work day and night. The soldiers killed the weaks, raped the women, and made others work on the rice fields. The book tells the story of the next four years of Arn's life and how he lost his family, but is still managing to survive by being brave and clever. This book is a message to all the teenagers in America and tells us how lucky we are to be living in a country like the USA. Therefore, I recommend this book to everyone especially to the young adults.
The theme of the book is that in order to survive, you have to adapt to your surroundings. You have to pretend like you are not new to whatever you're doing. As soon as the fear comes in your mind and heart, you will die because Arn's biggest fear in the world at that time was fear itself. Whenever the soldiers see fear in your eyes, they kill you.
If the setting took place here in America. then the story would've been completely different. Kids in America never really experienced a genocide or had to go to camps to work for hours. Kids in Cambodia never got free education, but kids in America do. Arn was an illiterate. He had to start working at rice fields at the age of 11. Kids in America don't really value education as much. If they lived in a country like Cambodia, they would know the real meaning of life and how much people struggle just so they can breathe.
Two main characters that change completely in the book are Arn and A Khmer Rouge soldier named Sombo. Arn was a happy guy. They were poor, but he still managed smile throughout the day. Play with his little sister and a rich girl whom he thought he loved. He used to play games with other people for money and he used to sell ice cream. Even though he was a good guy before, he became heartless after he started working on the rice fields. He didn't care about anyone else and he only thought about how to save himself. He forgot about his family for a little while. Khmer Rouge soldiers used to tell him to shoot people and he used to do it without showing any signs of fear because he knew, as soon as the soldiers see fear in his eyes, they will kill him. From being a kid, he became a man at the age of 12. This made me realize how people can change to survive.
Sombo looked like a tough man, but he was only 17. At first he used to kill people ruthlessly. He didn't show mercy to anyone. Deep inside, he was also like Arn. They both want to help other, but they can't. Sombo sees how Arn steals food to give to other kids, but he doesn't say anything to Arn. He was like just like Arn too, but the situation in his country made him a heartless soldier. Gradually, he started being soft and started smiling when he saw other kids smiling even when they are in so much pain. One smile can bring smile to many other faces. If they can smile in these tough conditions, then why can't I? I think that's what Sombo said to himself.
The structure of the book is what I like the most. The author didn't use any complicated vocabulary words. It is very simple and straight forward. She didn't jumble with words that much and it's very easy to read. Like most stories, the book starts on a good note, but then something terrible happens in the middle and as always, it has a happy ending. She used many flashbacks. For example, when on the Khmer Rouge camp, Arn would look outside and think about the time he spent with his family and how he used climb a tree to see the girl he "loves." She made the book very understandable. Her main focus was probably to attract the young adults because most teenagers don't like reading books that has a lot of vocabulary words and long sentences.
The author kept the sentences very simple. For example, if she wanted to say that they are going to the movies, she would say that they are going to the movies instead of making it a long and complicated sentence.
My three favorite sentences from the book:
"Be like the grass. Bend low, then bend lower. The wind blow one way, you blow that way. It blow the other way, you do too. That's the way to survive." (McCormick Pg. 86) In this sentence, Arn's aunt is telling him that in order to survive, do whatever the soldiers tell you to die. You listen to them, you live. You disobey their orders, you die. "Too dangerous to show that we are family. And so I pass by, giving her only one small nod of the head." (McCormick pg 186) In this sentence, Arn was talking about how he saw his little sister but he couldn't talk to her. If he did, they would've killed both Arn and his sister. To save yourself and your family, you have to not recognize each other because when you say your family in such conditions, emotions will grow into you and when you're emotional, you're weak. If you're weak, you can't work. If you can't work, you're worthless so you have to die. "Never fall down." (McCormick pg 201) This is my favorite quote from the book. It taught me that as soon as you fall down, it almost becomes impossible for you to get up. In Arn's case, you fall down, you die. Everybody can relate to this sentence. Nobody wants to fall down. People want to go high and higher. The higher you go, the happier you get. The lower you go, the closer you get to death.
Arn changes from a good guy to a bad guy just so he can survive. The cause was the invasion by a communist regime in Cambodia called Khmer Rouge. The effect was that Arn had to be mentally grown up to survive. He has to be brave and strong. He can't be afraid or else he will die. He had to let an adult female to have sex with him just because she will give him some extra food. The invasion separated him from his family so he had to raise himself.
Another major event was when Arn was given a gun to kill others during the war against Vietnam. The soldiers used little kids to locate the Vietnamese soldiers. Arn killed so many people that he was starting to be a bad guy. He was a pretty popular kid on the block and he started being greedy and tried to gain even more popularity. As a result, he lost a lot of his friends because he was becoming just like the Khmer Rouge soldiers.
Another major event was when Arn came to America. A guy from America went to Cambodia and adopted Arn and two of his other friends. The effects were negative at first because of the built up anger inside him. He would try to fight people even if they say anything as a joke. He just wants to hurt somebody. Later he changed and eventually his anger left him.
"One of the most amazing things about this book is the voice for Arn Chorn-Pond created by Patricia McCormick." (Suzanne, goodreads.com)
"The accent as she writes it rings so true; the vocabulary sounds realistic for an English language learner." (Suzanne, goodreads.com)
"the blending of his biographical recollections from interviews with her and the story that she weaves from that with her research so seamlessly incorporated is heartrending." (Suzanne, goodreads.com)
I completely agree with all those phrases. The voice of Arn was weak, yet powerful. The vocabulary she uses are very realistic and easy to comprehend. She also did an amazing job with her research.
Conclusion: I think this book should be read by everyone especially the kids here in America. When they read it, they will start to value their lives a little bit more. Some kids try to kill themselves because of family problems, girl problems, etc, but the kids in countries like Cambodia would do anything to survive. We need to learn that if they can survive through such hard times, then we can survive through the worst of everything. We need to value our life and look around to see what we have and what we can be. Read this book to experience something that you don't want to experience. When I was reading it, I was feeling the pain.
