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Sachiko
A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story
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.
| Interest Level | Grade 5 - Grade 12 |
|---|---|
| Reading Level | Grade 6 |
| Genre | Nonfiction |
| Subject | Diversity |
| Copyright | 2016 |
| Publisher | Lerner Publishing Group |
| Imprint | Carolrhoda Books |
| Language | English |
| Number of Pages | 144 |
| Publication Date | 2016-10-01 |
| Reading Counts! Level | 5.5 |
| BISACS | JNF007120, JNF025130, JNF038020 |
|---|---|
| Dewey | 940.54/252244092 |
| Graphics | 1-color illustrations, Full-color illustrations |
| Dimensions | 8 x 10 |
| Lexile | 850 |
| Features | Author/Illustrator biography, Author/Illustrator note, Awards, Bibliography/further reading, Endnote, Glossary, Index, Maps, Reviewed, Starred Reviews, and Table of contents |
Awards
- Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Master List
- NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
- Notable Books for a Global Society Notable Book
- Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year - Outstanding Merit
- ILA Teacher's Choices
- Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal Honor Book
- Minnesota Book Award Finalist
- Flora Stieglitz Straus Award
- Jane Addams Children's Book Award
- Cybils
- Freeman Book Award Honorable Mention
- Booklist Top 10 Diverse Nonfiction for Youth
- Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Choices
- Orbis Pictus Award Recommended Book
- Eureka! Children’s Book Gold Award
- National Book Award for Young People's Literature Longlist
- ALA Notable Children's Books
- ALA-CBC Reading Beyond
- Booklist Editor's Choice
- New York Public Library Best Books for Teens
- Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books
- Anna Cross Giblin Award
Reviews
Star Tribune
“Sachiko,” a nonfiction book by Minneapolis writer Caren Stelson, turned up on several 2016 lists, drawing nominations for the National Book Award and the Minnesota Book Award. It’s a slim book with a powerful wallop.
Sachiko Yasui was just 6 when the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Her first-person account describes the blast and its aftermath, as survivors struggle to find food and water and later die of burns and radiation sickness at overwhelmed hospitals.
Following Japan’s surrender in the war, Sachiko finds herself living in a half-finished house, with classmates who don’t understand her radiation sickness and mock hibakusha or “explosion-affected people.”
As she grows older, Sachiko takes strength from her father’s deep study of Gandhi and a postwar visit to Japan by Helen Keller. “All the world is suffering,” Keller says. “But it’s also full of the overcoming.”
The story’s first-person account and deep sense of humanity offer young readers a chance to grapple with the hard truths of war.
The Horn Book Magazine
“[A] sensitively crafted account . . . [Yasui’s] tragic tale is full of terror and despair, but hope and peace also loom large . . . . [T]his is a significant addition to the available material.”—The Horn Book Magazine
The New York Times Book Review
“Sachiko’s account [is] magnetic and chilling in its simplicity. . . . Stelson has created a book that is both personal and universal, both thoroughly researched and real.”—The New York Times
The Washington Post
“Author Caren Stelson tells Yasui’s story with warmth, sympathy and the vivid details of Yasui’s life before and after the bomb exploded. Filled with powerful archival images, the book also sensitively describes the historical context.”—The Washington Post
Booklist
“[A] story of staggering hardship and extraordinary resolve. . . . Sachiko and her story . . . are an indelible force. Luminous, enduring, utterly necessary.”—starred, Booklist
School Library Journal
“This sensitive and well-crafted account of a Nagasaki bomb survivor is an essential addition to World War II biography collections for middle school students.”—starred, School Library Journal
Publishers Weekly
“This powerful narrative account of one person finding her voice after insufferable trauma encapsulates a grim era in global history.”—Publishers Weekly
Kirkus Reviews
“[V]ery few [books] focus on the hibakusha, survivors of the bombings, and this important biography notably fills that gap. . . . An important perspective.”—Kirkus Reviews
Author: Caren Stelson
Caren Stelson has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.