Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story

What happened to me must never happen to you.--Sachiko Yasui

August 9, 1945, began like any other day for six-year-old Sachiko. Her country was at war, she didn't have enough to eat. At 11:01 a.m., she was playing outdoors with four other children. Moments later, those children were all dead. An atomic bomb had exploded just half a mile away.

In the days and months that followed, Sachiko lost family members, her hair fell out, she woke screaming in the night. When she was finally well enough to start school, other children bullied her. Through it all, she sought to understand what had happened, finding strength in the writings of Helen Keller, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Based on extensive interviews with Sachiko Yasui, Caren Stelson shares the true story of a young girl who survived the atomic bomb and chronicles her long journey to find peace. Sachiko offers readers a remarkable new perspective on the final moments of World War II--and their aftermath.

This striking work of narrative nonfiction tells the true story of six-year-old Sachiko Yasui's survival of the Nagasaki atomic bomb on August 9, 1945, and the heartbreaking and lifelong aftermath. Having conducted extensive interviews with Sachiko Yasui, Caren Stelson chronicles Sachiko's trauma and loss as well as her long journey to find peace. This book offers readers a remarkable new perspective on the final moments of World War II and their aftermath.

"Magnetic and chilling in its simplicity."--The New York Times Book Review

"A story of staggering hardship and extraordinary resolve. . . . Luminous, enduring, utterly necessary."--starred, Booklist

"An essential addition to World War II biography collections for middle school students."--starred, School Library Journal

"Caren Stelson tells Yasui's story with warmth [and] sympathy."--The Washington Post

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST

Author: Caren Stelson
Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (R)
Published: 10/01/2016
Pages: 144
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.52lbs
Size: 10.20h x 8.30w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781467789035
Audience: Young Adult

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.7
Point Value: 4
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 184498 / Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story


Award: Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award - Honor Book


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/0001
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2016
Publishers Weekly 08/29/2016
School Library Journal 09/01/2016 pg. 189
Booklist 09/01/2016 pg. 95
Horn Book Magazine 01/01/2017 pg. 119

About the Author
Stelson, Caren: - When author Caren Stelson first heard Sachiko Yasui speak, she knew she needed to share her story with young people. She eventually made five trips to Japan to interview Sachiko in Nagasaki and conduct additional research. Caren's book for middle grade readers, Sachiko: A Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor's Story, was longlisted for a National Book Award and received a Sibert Honor Award, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, and the Flora Stieglitz Straus Award. Caren and her husband Kim live in Minneapolis. They have two adult children and one grandson, Reid, who, like the readers of A Bowl Full of Peace, will be our next generation of peacemakers. www.carenstelson.com