Hiroshima

In Hiroshima, Laurence Yep tells a story of Sachi and her sister Riko. Sachi's entire life is defined by one moment, the moment the Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. This was a moment Riko didn't survive. Needless to say, that morning, August 6, 1945, changed Sachi's life forever and Yep's entire simple plot centers on this moment.

What makes Hiroshima a poignant read is Yep's direct writing style. All sentences are brief and to the point. Sentences like "Everyone is busy as the Enola Gay approaches" make readers realize the gravity of the matter (page 15). Publisher's Weekly says "though Yep's spare, deliberate description of the bomb's consequences delivers a brutal emotional punch- and though it is on the whole extremely well suited to the target audience- his novella has some jarring stylistic elements."

On the other hand, Yep's characters are simple. As readers, we get a little insight into survivor emotions as Sachi ventures to the United States as one of the Hiroshima Maidens. Perhaps, sending the women to the United States for surgeries was more therapeutic for Americans than for Japan or the city of Hiroshima.

Hiroshima also promotes a theme of peace, even through questioning the building up of more atomic weapons during "peace" time.

I found Yep's tale of the tragedy of Hiroshima to be both touching and informative. I was heart broken that such a tragedy could occur at the hands of man and learned about the causes and results of the attack.

I believe that this book would make a great 5 minute read-aloud at the beginning and/or end of a Social Studies class studying World War II. Students would learn a great deal about humanity from Sachi's experience. I might ask students about their worst scar or most vivid memory before reading this book. I might then have them compare those scars to Sachi's.

Yep provides readers with an amazing reading experience through the reading of this brief novella. The reading level is 4th through 8th grade, but to truly understand the message or content, a reader might need more emotional maturity, around 10th grade. Booklist says "Though accessible to middle-grade readers, this will also interest older readers who will find nothing condescending in content or format."

Other books by Yep include The Serpent's Children, Mountain Light, and The Traitor. Yep has received the Newbery Honor for two books, Dragon's Gate and Dragonwings. He has also been awarded the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for his contributions to children's literature. According to his website, http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/Kids/AuthorsAndIllustrators/ContributorDetail.aspx?CId=12929, Yep has written over 60 books.

Hiroshima, though written for a level of younger children, provides a mature and well-rounded look at what some people call "America's biggest mistake." School Library Journal says that "Hiroshima has a more adult format than Junko Morimoto's more personal My Hiroshima (Viking, 1990) or Toshi Maruki's Hiroshima No Pika (Lothrop, 1982), both of which tell the story in pictures as well as words."

Reference:

Yep, Laurence. Hiroshima. Scholastic Inc., New York: 1995. ISBN: 0-590-20832-2.