Patricia McCormick’s Never Fall Down takes the reader into the teenage years of a boy named Arn during the Khmer Rouge’s genocide of Cambodia. Arn changes from a carefree, somewhat poor boy to a labor camp worker, relying on his wit and intelligence to survive the Khmer Rouge's death camps while managing to make a reputation of himself. In addition, he makes and loses several friends in these camps. However, as Vietnamese soldiers make their way into Cambodia in an attempt to eliminate the Khmer Rouge, Arn is removed from his labor camp work and thrown into the fray, fighting as a soldier against the people trying to save him. Throughout his journey we witness heart wrenching scenes of cruelty from the brutal Khmer Rouge as well as unexpected kindness from Arn.

The overall writing of the book is solid and written with a very unique style that captures Arn’s dialect in a very smooth matter. Reading the novel for the first few minutes may madden one’s eyes a bit, but overall it’s very easy to get used to the writing style, and it adds more feeling to the novel. For the first two thirds of the novel there is a lot going on at once, leading to there being no dull moments. However, the last third of the book left something to be desired. The action, suspense, and heartbreaking tones seem to fizzle out over a very short amount of time.

This novel gave an impression to me before I began reading it. There are many books that attempt to suck the reader into a place out of their comfort zone. They try to bring your attention to a social justice issue that you may or may not have been aware of or have completely understood. I had the first impression that this book was going to try to do that, but fail in doing so and leave the reader not very engaged at all. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this was not the case. Not only does it show you about how the impact of the Cambodian genocide, but it brings you into the life and emotions of Arn as he travels from place to place simply trying to stay alive. For those with the luxury of not having to worry about where they’re going to get their next meal from or how they’re going to survive to the next day, it certainly is an eye opener.