"Hiroshima" by Laurence Yep

Citation:

Yep, Laurence. Hiroshima. New York: Scholastic, 1995.

ISBN: 9780590208321

Plot Summary:

Hiroshima follows the dropping of the atomic bomb by the United States on Hiroshima and its aftermath.  In order to do this, Yep’s novella follows a young girl names Sachi.  Sachi survives the attack but is left badly burned and injured.  She is temporarily taken to the United States as a ‘Hiroshima Maiden’ to have surgery to mend injuries sustained by the atomic bomb as a peace offering.  The novella paints a portrait of the event and its massive historical and societal ripple effect.

Critical Analysis:

The character of Sachi is, in Yep’s own words, a “composite character” of many different children’s experiences with the atomic bomb.  She is a sole survivor, her father died in the Pacific, she is one of 25 women chosen to be a Hiroshima Maiden and go to the US. 

The novella reads easily and manages to tackle a tragic historical event concisely and clearly.  Yep uses language that readers will be able to follow and understand.  The attached sources are lengthy and impressive, especially for such a short read.  The reader can tell that Yep had done a great deal of research for this novella.

Review Excerpts:

BookList: “Though accessible to middle-grade readers, this will also interest older readers, who will find nothing condescending in content or format. Fifty years later, the event is still the focus of furious controversy (even the numbers are in dispute), and this novella will start classroom discussion across the curriculum.”

Publishers Weekly: “Yet in what is one of his tale's most haunting moments, Yep interjects the resonant words of an American-the Enola Gay's copilot-who, surveying the destruction just after the bomb has hit Hiroshima, scribbles a note to himself: "What have we done?" This powerful chronicle ensures that what was done on that awful day will remain in readers' memories for a very long time.”

Connections:

*Nonfiction titles about World War II:

World War II for Kids by Richard Panchyk

ISBN: 9781556524554

The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won by Stephen Ambrose

ISBN: 9780689843617