Hiroshima and Nagasaki by
This title chronicles the U.S. bombing of these Japanese cities during World War II. Topics include the development of the atomic bomb, Truman's decision to drop the bombs, and the long-term consequences of this historical event. Primary source accounts present reactions from both sides.
Why did Hiroshima happen? by
In the early morning hours of August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber headed for the city of Hiroshima to drop an atomic bomb. The aftermath of the bombing still affects the city's inhabitants today. This book details the events of Hiroshima and explains why this haunting event occurred. Photographs from the period provide an informative view of the tragedy.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki by
Chronicles the events leading up to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the cities, and more than 120,000 men, women, and children were killed or mortally wounded.
Eleanor Coerr was born in Kamsack, Saskatchewan, Canada, and grew up in Saskatoon. Two of her favorite childhood hobbies were reading and making up stories. Eleanor began her professional life as a newspaper reporter and editor of a column for children. Luckily, she travelled to Japan in 1949 as a writer for the Ottawa Journal, since none of the other staff wanted to go to a country that had been devastated by war. Coerr is the writer of numerous children’s book and picture books.
Penguin Random House
Chapter 1 - Good Luck Signs: Sadako is excited to go ot the Peace Day celebration. Her mother reminds her that the day is about remembering the people who lost their lives when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, including Sadako's grandmother.
Chapter 2 - Peace Day: Sadako meets up with her friend Chizuko. The girls enjoy eating cotton candy and looking at all of the pretty things the vendors have for visitors to buy, but looking at the scarred faces of the bomb victims makes Sadako uncomfortable.
Chapter 3 - Sadako's Secret: Sadako helps her team win a big race on Field Day, but suffers from an unexplained dizzy spell she keeps a secret.
The dizziness continues as she is training to make the relay team in junior high.
Chapter 4 - A Secret No Longer: Sadako becomes dizzy and falls down in class. She is taken to the hospital and diagnosed with leukemia.
Chapter 5 - The Golden Crane: Chizuko is Sadako's first visitor in the hospital. She brings golden origami paper and encourages Sadako to fold cranes by telling her the legend of the 1,000 paper cranes. The girls decide that folding cranes may help Sadako get well again. Sadako completes her first 12 cranes.
Chapter 6 - Kenji: All of Sadako's family, friends, and classmates are saving paper for her project.
She meets a boy named Kenji who also has leukemia. They become friends, but he soon passes away. Sadako has now folded 464 cranes.
Chapter 7 - Hundreds of Wishes: The leukemia makes Sadako feel tired all the time. Her mother and brother bring Sadako her favorite foods and try to cheer her up. Sadako has now completed 541 cranes.
Chapter 8 - Last Days: Sadako gets to go home to visit her family for O Bon, a holiday celebrating the spirits of the dead who have returned to visit the people they loved on Earth. She enjoys seeing her family and her friend Chizuko, but is very weak. Her mother gives her a kimono and she folds paper crane number 644. It is the last crane she is able to make.
Chapter 9 - Racing with the Wind: Sadako is too weak to fold cranes, but is surrounded by her family. She passes away on October 25, 1955.
Epilogue: Sadako's classmates fold the remaining 356 origami cranes so that 1,000 paper cranes are buried with her. Throughout the world, young Sadako becomes a symbol of peace.
Taken from Hinders, D. (2016). Your Guide to Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. About.com Home. <http://origami.about.com/od/History-Of-Origami/a/A-Guide-To-Sadako-And-The-Thousand-Paper-Cranes.htm>
“An extraordinary book, one no reader will fail to find compelling and unforgettable.” —Booklist, starred review
The star of her school’s running team, Sadako is lively and athletic…until the dizzy spells start. Then she must face the hardest race of her life—the race against time. Based on a true story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes celebrates the courage that makes one young woman a heroine in Japan.
Penguin Random House
Yoko's Diary by
1945 was a hard time to be a child in Japan. Many had seen their cities destroyed by US bombers. Food, fuel and materials were in short supply. Yet spirits remained high. In April 1945, Yoko Moriwaki started high school in Hiroshima, excited to be a prestigious 'Kenjo' girl, and full of duty towards her parents, school and country. But the country was falling apart and in four months time her city would become the target for the first atomic bomb ever used as a weapon. In her diary, Yoko provides an account of that time, when conditions were so poor that children as young as twelve were required to work in industry; when fierce battles raged in the Pacific and children like Yoko believed victory was near. With additions by Yoko's relatives and fellow students, and an introduction by award-winning author Paul Ham, Yoko's Diary not only shows us the hopes, beliefs and daily life of a young girl in wartime Japan, it is a touching account of the consequences of the first nuclear bombing of a city.