Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

What drew my attention initially to The Last Paper Crane was that it was a fictional story about the bombing of Hiroshima, but the author had done some major research into the bombing and the survivor’s stories before even starting to put this book together. We are introduced to Mizuki and her grandfather Ichiro, who is suffering after the death of his wife and Mizuki doesn’t understand why his grief is so deep. Although we quickly learn that Ichiro hasn’t told Mizuki about his past, but the death of his wife and his own advanced age is forcing him to pass the story onto the next generation, so it isn’t forgotten. While the present is set in Japan 2018, we jump back to Japan 1945, where we meet Ichiro as a young man and his best friend, Hiro and his younger sister, Keiko. This novel is also told in a mixture of straight narrative, free verse, and haiku poems, along with some stunning illustrations from Natsko Seki.

The first thing we must note about Ichiro is his own father is off fighting and he made him a promise to finish his father’s favourite book, The Tale of Genji, which I have read and it is an extremely long book especially for a child but this is important as Ichiro takes the book everywhere as a physical manifestation of his promise and promises are important in this novel. Ichiro and Hiro are enjoying a day to themselves from helping with the war effort when the bomb was dropped and both suffer immediate effects, while Ichiro suffer internal pain and sickness, Hiro has very severe burns. In the immediate aftermath of the bomb the boys are coming to see the devastation of their home and immediately want to try and find their families consisting of both their mothers and Keiko who is at school. However, the devastation and the after shocks of the bombs such as the huge fires make it really difficult. As they search both boys have to accept that both their mothers didn’t survive the blast but after some really difficult searching, they find that Keiko was sent to the park by the teachers and she is alive and well apart from an injured leg. One thing to note here, is the shadows the boys see and if you know anything about Hiroshima then you know I am referring to the shadows of people that died when the bomb was dropped.

Knowing that the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was an atomic bomb we can see both Ichiro and Hiro suffering from radiation sickness and as the trio try to escape the crowds and raging fires, they end at the river. They try to cross the bridge to the other side, but it is also consumed by flames, but the crush of people is preventing them from going anywhere, but they struggle down to the riverbank where they will be safe from the fires. Here, Ichiro tries to keep hold of both Keiko and Hiro as the river’s current is strong while Keiko is holding onto his father’s book. However, Ichiro becomes very tired and is struggling to hold onto Hiro and keep himself and Keiko above the water. When they do get separated, Ichiro begs Hiro to swim towards him so he can pull him closer to him and Keiko, but Hiro can’t do anymore, and Ichiro promises to keep Keiko alive as his friends dies before him. Together, Keiko and Ichiro are rescued by the passing stranger with a boat and Ichiro’s book which Keiko had managed to save even after Ichiro told her to let it go when they were fighting the current. The pair are told that there is a Red Cross Hospital close by where they can get some treatment for their injuries, but Ichiro is going to have to carry Keiko as she can’t really walk on her injured leg even though the stranger splinted it. Due to the damage to the city, their journey to the hospital isn’t straightforward and Ichiro’s energy is failing him. He knows he won’t be able to get them both to the hospital, but he might make it and bring help for Keiko, so he leaves her behind. However, before he leaves her, he folds Keiko a paper crane and promises to return for her.

He barely makes it to the hospital himself but due to the major loss of life, they don’t have the staff to spare to pick up one little girl so Ichiro is going to walk back to her but his injuries and the radiation get the better of him. Ichiro ends up waking up in a hospital in Tokyo and a whole month has passed and he believes that Keiko is dead after he learns of the atomic bomb, Japan’s surrender, and the occupation of Japan by the American. However, in the hospital he meets a translator named Megumi, who wants to help him find out if Keiko was rescued and is possibly in one of the many orphanages. As time passes and Ichiro recovers somewhat from the injuries caused by the bomb, which are studied by several American doctors as they aren’t aware of what the after effects of an atomic bomb are and there are a few survivors from Hiroshima that can be studied including Ichiro he always wants to return to Hiroshima to find Keiko and keep his promise to her. His entire stay in the hospital is plagued by guilt and dreams of those he has made promises to that haven’t been fulfilled. Eventually, Megumi calls in a favours and help from several people to take Ichiro back to Hiroshima and she goes with him which was something that almost made me tear up as she helps him keep his hope up that Keiko is alive and waiting for him somewhere, they just have to find her.

Upon returning to Hiroshima, Ichiro and Megumi check every hospital and refuge for Keiko but she is nowhere to be found and eventually they have to return to Tokyo where the doctors refuse to let Ichiro return again for a while because everyone else that has returned has died sooner or later and they don’t know why. Megumi also has trouble staying in Japan as she has to transfer from the armed force to the civil service and even then, she is only given a year before she has to return to America. At some point during this year, Megumi and Ichiro fall in love as we learn back in the present that Megumi is Mizuki’s grandmother and was someone extremely important to her grandfather and his story. However, when her grandfather produces a letter that concludes that Keiko is dead as there is no record of her, Mizuki suddenly realises that there is no record of her being alive and no record of her being dead so there is still hope that Keiko is out there somewhere but both her mother and grandfather have no interest in looking for her in case it hurts Ichiro more than it already has. Mizuki takes it upon herself to use the power of the internet and find out once and for all what happened to Mizuki but there is no record of her until Mizuki tries searching for her grandfather’s surname, Ando and finds a Keiko Ando.

Without telling him, Mizuki manages to convince Ichiro to go on a road trip to Hiroshima and they pray that the Keiko Ando they are going to visit, is Ichiro’s Keiko. As they stand outside the house, Ichiro is reluctant to knock until he sees the paper crane in the window and then he has to know. A young man answers the door and introduces himself as Ichiro Ando, named after Mizuki’s grandfather and the man that saved his own grandmother when she was only a child. It turns out that Keiko waited for Ichiro to return but as she did she feel asleep and much like Ichiro when she woke she was in a shelter and accidently gave her surname as Ando and she has since forgotten her own name. The younger Ichiro takes Mizuki and her grandfather to the place where his grandmother waits for her rescuer to return but Ichiro is afraid so he creates the final paper crane as there is a saying to fold 1000 paper cranes means you get a wish granted and Ichiro’s wish was always to be reunited with Keiko. In the final pages of this novel, they are finally brought back together after 73 years and while Mizuki isn’t part of that conversation she knows that both of their lives have come full circle and she can focus on her own journey going forward although she is curious to learn Keiko’s story. Overall, The Last Paper Crane was a haunting and beautiful novel about friendship and promises kept that brought tears to my eyes more than once and was so beautifully written that I devoured it in a few hours. Highly recommended!

Oh. My. God. This book was incredible. I loved everything about this book. It was so SO impactful and hard hitting and emotional and harrowing. It was so beautifully written, I spent most of my time reading this book with tears in my eyes.

I first heard about this book at a time when I thought I didn’t really like historical fiction, but I had read and loved the first two books in Kerry’s Cell 7 trilogy, so that convinced me to add this one to my TBR. Since then I have also read more historical fiction, and I have discovered that I really love historical fiction set during wars, and I became very excited to give this one a try. I’m so glad I did.

This book is told partly in verse and partly in prose. I actually didn’t know that going in. I decided to listen to the audiobook of this one, and I’m really glad I did because I really like consuming verse books via audio, so that was a pleasant surprise. This book is also told in two POVs, so the verse sections are from Mizuki’s POV, and the prose section is from her grandfather’s POV. The two POVs had different narrators, which I also really enjoyed.

In the authors note at the end of the book, Kerry talks about Hiroshima, and she asks “It was a moment in history that should still ripple through time, but was time fading it from our memories?” This really struck me because, somehow, what happened in Hiroshima was something I hadn’t heard about. I always find fiction based on true events are a really good way for me to learn about the events, and I’m sure other people are the same, so I hope we get more books like this. The Last Paper Crane has brought this tragedy to my attention, and it is now something I will never forget.

As I said earlier, this book was so emotional. It made me feel everything from sorrow and pain to hope to happiness. I love books that really make me feel, and The Last Paper Crane definitely fits that description.

Kerry Drewery has definitely found her way onto my list of autobuy authors, and also onto my list of all time favourite authors. Every book of hers I have read so far has been 5 stars.

This was such an interesting read!
If you’ve been here before you’ll know that I have a real thing about books set in the 1940s, particularly those that are based outside of Europe, so when I saw that this follows the aftermath of Hiroshima, I knew it had to go on my Netgalley shelf.



One thousand paper cranes to achieve your heart’s desire.
1945, Hiroshima: Ichiro is a teenage boy relaxing at home with his friend Hiro. Moments later there is a blinding flash as the horrific nuclear bomb is dropped. With great bravery, the two boys find Hiro’s five-year-old sister Keiko in the devastated and blasted landscape. With Hiro succumbing to his wounds, Ichiro
is now the only one who can take care of Keiko. But in the chaos, Ichiro loses her when he sets off to find help.
Seventy years later, the loss of Keiko and his broken promise to his dying friend is haunting the old man’s fading years. Mizuki, his granddaughter, is determined to help him. As the Japanese legend goes, if you have the patience to fold 1,000 paper cranes, you will find your heart’s desire; and it turns out her grandfather has only one more origami crane to fold…
Narrated in a compelling mix of straight narrative, free verse and haiku poems, this is a haunting and powerful novel of courage and survival, with full-page illustrations by Natsko Seki.

One of the reasons why this is so interesting to read is because of the variety of narrative styles that are used to tell the story. Some parts are in verse, some in Haikus, some in prose and of course there are the illustrations by Natsko Seki all of which adds to an already beautifully written and heart wrenching story. I’m not usually a fan of novels written in verse, I find them hard to follow, but I feel like the unpredictability of the narration really helped portray the chaos and confusion of the aftermath of an event like the dropping of an atomic bomb. I received this as an ebook from Netgalley straight to my Kindle, but as my kindle is one of the original ones, it doesn’t really handle illustrations and graphics very well, which is a shame. I think if I had a newer e-reader or a physical copy of this, I would have been able to fully appreciate the artwork, so I will be looking to see this in print just so I can flick through and enjoy them. Just bear that in mind if you’re working with older technology! Not being able to fully enjoy the images didn’t in any way impede my enjoyment of the book – I just think it would have been a much more effective reading experience with them.

Overall this was a beautifully written story interweaving a Japanese folklore about paper cranes and promises with one of the biggest atrocities of our time. After reading this I would love to read an own voices about this time in Japanese history. Kerry Drewery did an amazing job, but she is a white woman from England as far as I can tell (not that that’s a bad thing, samsies after all) I just think it would be interesting to read this story from someone more directly affected, so do send me recommendations! That said, this was illustrated by Natsko Seki who is Japanese, so I’m confident that this is written with sensitivity and accuracy.

Definitely give this a go if you’re interested in this period of history or want a real reading experience – the different narrative styles really make this a unique and engaging book and I’m already adding Kerry Drewery’s other work to my TBR!

The Last Paper Crane is sublime. It’s a story about humanity and guilt and courage and kindness, and it totally emotionally ruined me.

You might cry throughout the entirety of this book. The bulk of it is narrated by Ichiro, a seventeen-year-old living in Hiroshima during 1945. His simplistic narration drives home the horror of the bombing; the steady decline of his optimism is heartbreaking.

The setup is immediate and the prose is immaculate and devastating. With the present narrated in eloquent free-verse by Ichiro’s granddaughter, and the past in harsh, wistful prose by Ichiro, the juxtaposition is painful and, somehow, sanguine.

This is a book you need to experience physically; from the exquisite full-page illustrations by Natsko Seki to the present-day free verse. An ebook does not do this work justice.

I felt like I had to read this book in one sitting. It’s not a long read, and breaking it up felt disrespectful; the story weighed on me far too much. First, you’ll ask, “How could this have ever happened?” and then, “Why were we not taught the extent of this in school?”

Ultimately, Kerry Drewery’s rich storytelling will leave you wondering how a book can be so bleak can end up so hopeful. This book is about persistence and love. It’s honest and simple and totally gut-wrenching. By far, one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Ichiro is a teenage boy relaxing at home in Hiroshima with his friend Hiro. Suddenly there's a flash, The Bomb.
The boys find Hiro's five year old sister Keiko, when Hiro succumbs to his wounds, Ichiro promises to look after Keiko.
As they are trying to find a help, Ichiro leaves Keiko, promising to return. He doesn't find her again.
Now an old man, Ichiro still feels guilty for losing his best friends sister. He tells his grand daughter his story, and the Japanese legend that if you have the patience to fold 1000 paper cranes, you will find your hearts desire. Ichiro has just one left.
This book is perfection. I love the mix of prose, poetry and Haiku, and the sketches are stunning. The story itself is beautiful. It's about the power of books. About a lifetime of guilt. About love and hope. Set in Hiroshima, right after the bomb. Not a book to be missed.

Thanks to NetGalley for gifting me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Simply gorgeous. I was BLOWN AWAY by this masterpiece. A learnt a huge amount about what happened in Hiroshima whilst simultaneously falling in love with characters in the past and present. I loved the mixture of prose and verse. A very poignant and touching novel about love and hope.

This book took me on such an emotional journey, and I can't stop recommending it to people.

I read The Last Paper Crane in one sitting. I have a love of novels set in Japan, and was on a big historical fiction kick, so this novel was instantly of interest to me but I had no idea when I started reading just how much I'd love it. Without spoilers - this novel broke my heart several times, but I still finished it feeling incredibly hopeful.

The writing style is enjoyable and easy to read despite the heavy subject matter. I only realised recently after seeing an Instagram post from a local bookshop that this book is aimed at young adults, it certainly reads more "grown up" to me despite still having the appeal to young people, truly a book for everyone!

A Japanese man, Ichiro, nearing the end of his life, becomes withdrawn and unhappy – much to the distress of his family. His grandaughter, Mizuki, is finally able to get him to talk about the events, seventy years ago, when he, his best friend Hiro and Hiro’s five-year old sister Keiko, live through the events of August 1945 in Hiroshima. The book moves from the present day, narrated largely by Mizuki and written in verse (including some haiku), and the past, told in bleak but still beautiful prose, by Ichiro. Nothing is missed: the horror of the initial explosion, the confusion of the immediate aftermath or the long and painful recovery which followed. Ichiro and Hiro, injured in ways they don’t yet know by the blast, go to search for little Keiko – as if their only salvation lies in protecting the girl. The emotions are raw, but somehow restrained, in a potent mix of love, honour and searing guilt.

This is a wonderful book. Although it is aimed at children it doesn’t talk down to them or attempt to cover up the terrible consequences of conflict – but there is still enough hope and beauty in there to convince them that they will be able to improve on the world their parents and grandparents leave them. Inspirational.

The Last Paper Crane by Kerry Drewery (Hot Key Books, £7.99) is an emotive and poignant book told in dual narrative verse and prose. Flicking between contemporary Japan and 1945, this story is simultaneously heart-warming and heart breaking. Mizuki is worried about her grandfather. Slowly, he opens up and shares his experience of surviving Hiroshima and the events that have haunted him throughout his life. The author has beautifully shown the individual and human experience of Hiroshima like no other I have come across. It is a book of devastation and horror, but also hope and determination. This book must and should be read by all..

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3323328942

Thank you NetGalley and Hot Key Books for providing me with a copy for review. 

This book was incredibly emotional and intense the whole way through with beautiful writing (sometimes written in verse) and illustrations throughout. It forces you to think about the difficult decisions that people would have had to make as well as the constant shocks and revelations they would have had to deal with on top of their injuries and destroyed lives. It was really raw to read about how much people would have had to push themselves in order to survive and to help each other at the time, but also in the times following. People were torn apart from their loved ones and did not know where they were, what had happened to them, or if they had even survived. It is an event that changed and shaped the rest of their lives, and the lives of their descendants.

I loved a lot of things about this book, especially the symbolism and significance of paper cranes, and the honesty. But one of my favourite things about this book were the illustrations done by a Japanese artist Natsko Seki using Japanese calligraphy brush and ink. They really added to the atmosphere of the book and captured the messages and essence that the book holds and I'm really glad a Japanese artist was involved with the creation of this story. You can really see how Seki and Drewery put a lot of time and research into doing justice to this story about such a traumatic and important event in history.

I really don't know if there is words to describe how I feel about this book. I think its one of the most beautiful and heart wrenching books I have ever read! This book made me think a lot about the events of Hiroshima in a more emotional way.

This story is told in a way that really interested me. The contemporary parts were told as poetry and the 1945 bit was told like a normal story but was helped along with breathtaking illustrations. For me the illustrations really made you feel like you were there.

This is a story about hope, guilt and never giving up! It's definitely a book that will stick with me for a long time. History is important and its important to remember even if you weren't there.

Powerful story.

Fast paced narrative that takes on a journey of a period in history that, whilst often talked about, the human angle seems rarely to be discussed.

Thought-provoking and delicately written.

Thank you NetGalley, Bonnier Zaffre and Hot Key Books for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review!

~

One thousand paper cranes to achieve your heart’s desire.

1945, Hiroshima: Ichiro is a teenage boy relaxing at home with his friend Hiro. Moments later there is a blinding flash as the horrific bomb is dropped. With great bravery the two boys find Hiro’s five year-old sister Keiko in the devastated and blasted landscape. With Hiro succumbing to his wounds, Ichiro is now the only one who can take care of Keiko. But in the chaos Ichiro loses her when he sets off to find help.

Seventy years later, the loss of Keiko and his broken promise to his dying friend are haunting the old man’s fading years. Mizuki, his grandaughter, is determined to help him. As the Japanese legend goes, if you have the patience to fold 1,000 paper cranes, you will find your heart’s desire; and it turns out her grandfather has only one more origami crane to fold…

~

I was initially hesitant about this book, as it is written by a white author about a Japanese man and his journey. However, I appreciate the dedication to research and portraying a story not often told with sensitivity and grace. Obviously, having a Japanese author write a story about the horrors of Hiroshima would be better, giving the chance for an Own Voices author to have the spotlight, but Drewery has created this story with help from several organisations in Japan and used her platform to raise awareness of these events, not just masking or distorting them with her privilege. I cannot comment on the reception this book will have within Japanese audiences and would not like to as I cannot speak for them as a white person, but it felt like a well researched piece of historical fiction that may well have happened in one form or another, instead of a gross piece of torture porn which highlights suffering in a twisted light.

I also appreciated that a Japanese artist was hired to illustrate this book, which gave an added emotional depth and beauty to the writing. The images are haunting and fit perfectly with Drewery’s words, bringing the desperation of Ichiro’s journey to life.

The story is presented through a mix of poetry and prose, distinguishing the past and present narratives. I thought this worked perfectly and helped to create a clear difference between Ichiro’s memories and the present day world of Mizuki and her Grandfather.

Drewery uses a character driven plot to explore conflicting emotions in the wake of tragedy, and creates a beautiful, touching piece of work which I feel will resonate with many people. The Hiroshima bomb is a key aspect of this story, but is not the entirety or the focus. The emotions explored and displayed within this work are universal, felt by anyone who has been forced to make a difficult, life changing choice or promise under pressure. The desperation and grief which permeates the words can be picked up and inserted into hundreds of conflicts, situations and into millions of people. Hiroshima is just one of these unspeakable events. However, I appreciate that the story was set here, as the amount of WW2 stories from a Japanese perspective are few and far between, and having the chance to explore this gave me a deeper understanding of the true barbaric consequences of the Atomic bomb.

I gave this book 4 stars in the end!

There are always so many sides to any story. Since the victors write history, we end up having a lot of information about some events and hardly anything about another. This is probably why, despite reading a considerable chunk of historical fiction, I have never had an opportunity to read about Hiroshima.

This is a simply told story of great hardship and mind-numbing events. It is written by someone who in her introduction talks of how, despite having no direct connection to the event, felt the need to put this down in words. The war and related details are minor backgrounds, and the focus is all on an old man telling his grandson for the first time how the day the bomb fell on Hiroshima was for him. There is just one point of view at any given time, two styles of narration and very evocative illustrations. The book is short, and the ending a lot different from what I thought it would be given the type of conversation that took place in the preceding pages. It was a refreshing read among my other usual genres, and the paper crane in itself was a very heart-rending image that carried on throughout the entire tale. It is such a short story in its entirety that there is nothing more that I can add to a review of it.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

This is a beatifully written book full of powerful emotion. It was so easy to read and I loved every minute.

‘There is magic in books, Father had said’

Synopsis
Mizuki, a Japanese teenager is worried about her grandfather, who tells her something from his past that he has never gotten over....
6th August 1945: Hiroshima, Japan. As a teenager Ichiro is a home with his friend Hiro, moments later their world changes forever. The boys search for family amid the devastation, as they react to the destruction of both their family and home of the first atomic bomb.

Review
The Last Paper Crane is an incredibly powerful book. I loved the way that it is a combination of verse and prose, the language is so beautifully written, and so poetic. After the bomb is dropped the book is written with a sense of urgency, that you could feel the emotions of the characters so vividly. As we return to the present there was a moment where I got actual chills. The story is helped with the use of illustrations by Natsko Seki, which are so stunning and moving.

I completed this book in one sitting, I found it such a compelling and moving story that I did not want to put it down. It is rare in novels set during World War II to have the perspective of a Japanese character, but it is so important in this instance. I have some knowledge of the Hiroshima bombing, but this book deals with the aftermath to those most affected and the physical after effects on those who stayed, which is not often dealt with.

This is suggested in places as a YA book, and I do think that it can help younger readers understand what happened in Hiroshima, but I don’t think it should only be aimed at young adults, it’s too powerful and beautiful a story to limit its readership.

I instantly loved the cover of this book, the white background featuring a large crimson red disc which I would say represents a red sun, that features on the Japanese flag makes it a really striking image. There’s a silhouette of a tree, which upon reading the book I would say is a burnt skeleton of a tree. I think the people on the cover represent Ichiro and Keiko whose story is the main focus of the book. The by-line on the book is “Hiroshima 1945, A day that haunts many . . . . a promise that haunts one” fits the book perfectly and immediately evoked emotion within me and made me put his book firmly on my “must read” list. The first line of the blurb “One thousand paper cranes to achieve your heart’s desire” refers to a Japanese tradition of whoever folds and creates 100 paper cranes will gain their hearts desire. The crane itself is a symbol of hope, peace, and loyalty and to be given one is a deeply thought and personal gift. The paper cranes play a central role in this book.

The book begins with a young man called Mizuki thinking how much his grandfather has changed since the death of his grandmother. It seems that when Mizuki’s grandmother died she took a large part of his grandfather too. It was clear to everyone that his grandparents had been deeply in love. Mizuki is left alone with his grandfather when his mother heads off to work. Mizuki is surprised when his grandfather says he must tell him something that no one else alive knows. This important news his grandfather needs to tell him is something his grandfather says must be remembered by someone. Mizuki’s grandfather, Ichiro Ando, says he is a bad man, and that there is no magic in the world. Ichiro brings out a box and removes a book, or rather what is left of what was once a book and starts to tell his life story. The story begins with Ichiro being at his friend Hiro’s house, they are talking when everything goes bright white and then silent. That white light was the bomb being dropped on Hiroshima…it took lives and drastically changed the lives of those that survived. The book then tells how Ichiro digs his way out of the now collapsed building that was Hiro’s home. Ichiro helps locate and free Hiro and they are quite literally both stunned. They soon make a plan that they should go to hospital to get their injuries tended to. Then suddenly Hiro mentions his five year old sister Keiko who is at kindergarten, and the two friends decide to go find her first. The book tells of the horrors that the two boys encountered and the devastation they saw all around them. They do find Keiko and there’s a point in the book where an extremely difficult decision has to be made. All three of them have made their way into the water to escape the advancing flames from all the fires that are burning ever nearer to them. Ichiro is holding Keiko so she is not swept away by the changing current of water and bodies. Ichiro is faced by an impossible choice to put a little 5 year old child down to almost certainly drown and die, or watch his struggling friend Hiro be swept away. Ichiro knows Hiro would want him to save Keiko but there is an extremely emotional moment in the book, a look shared between two friends, words not verbally spoken, but said through looking at each others eyes. Ichiro lost his mother, lost his best friend when trying to escape the flames, carried his best friends little sister until he could no longer. He wakes up in a Tokyo hospital weeks later, where he meets the women who eventually becomes his wife & his life, yet he carries guilt about being separated and never getting back to his best friend little sister.

I don’t want to delve any further into the brilliant details of the story as you really need to read it and have the story un-fold as it did to me when I read it. It really is a beautiful tale. You immediately feel sympathy for Ichiro yet at the same time you know as a character he would not want that. To everyone else, characters in the book and as a reader, he really did everything he possibly could and was heroic. Yet Ichiro doesn’t see it that way, to him he failed his best friend Hiro and heartbreakingly he feels he desperately failed Keiko too.
The way he insisted he should search for Keiko, despite his own ill health and injuries, leaving little paper cranes was so poetic. How he went on to marry someone who he met whilst in hospital being treated for the injuries he incurred when the bomb fell, along with the health issues he developed because of the air he breathed whilst trying to escape the fires.

I have read other titles by this author such as her Cell 7 series which is a YA, dystopian genre book and totally loved them. This book is again aimed at the Teens and YA Audience, but is historical in genre, though based on the true, real life, tragedy of Hiroshima and its aftermath. I actually sat and read this in one sitting. As soon as Ichiro started telling his story to his grandson, I knew there was no way I was putting this book down until I had read to the very end. Ichiro’s story is truly addictive reading.
My immediate thoughts upon finishing reading this book were that it was a very
poignant story of an elderly man who survived the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, and lost everything dear to him.
To sum up this is an amazing fictional portrayal of a devastating act carried out during World War 2. I had heard of the place called Hiroshima, I knew there had been devastation but embarrassingly hadn’t particularly thought of the individual impact on the civilisation. Of course, I had seen the famous photograph of the naked little girl running down the street. It wasn’t something we were specifically taught about at school. I think this would make a great conversation starter for teens to learn about Hiroshima. A must read!

Beautifully written and filled with emotion. I flew through this book, enjoying every word.
The artwork was beautiful and added so much to the story.

I loved the mix of styles.

I'd highly recommend this beautiful and powerful book.

Mizuki’s grandfather is haunted by the ‘terrible thing’ he did. He left his friend’s little sister Keiko when he went to find help, after the Hiroshima bombing. On his return she wasn’t there and he’s carried the guilt ever since, leaving folded cranes, pages from a book with messages, for her to find. We follow Grandfather’s story which is illustrated with the most gorgeous, simple but effective pictures. These, and the accompanying text, are no doubt better in the paperback, but they are very affecting. There is no glory, no blame, in this wartime story. Just survival. I won’t spoil it, but the story is lovely and heart-warming. The book is meant for young adult readers but this old adult adored it.