Author: Shaw Kuzki
Genre: historical fiction
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Rating:
Summary (provided by publisher): Twelve-year-old Nozomi lives in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. She wasn't even born when the bombing of Hiroshima took place. Every year Nozomi joins her family at the lantern-floating ceremony to honor those lost in the bombing. People write the names of their deceased loved ones along with messages of peace, on paper lanterns and set them afloat on the river. This year Nozomi realizes that her mother always releases one lantern with no name. She begins to ask questions, and when complicated stories of loss and loneliness unfold, Nozomi and her friends come up with a creative way to share their loved ones' experiences. By opening people's eyes to the struggles they all keep hidden, the project teaches the entire community new ways to show compassion.
My opinion: My first thought about this book is that the artistry and culture don't really translate properly into English. The central focus of the plot is on shifts in culture after a world changing event. Can we, as American readers, properly understand those shifts if we don't really understand what the culture was like before Hiroshima? This also isn't a straightforward narrative. It's glimpses into the lives of people in a neighborhood, the secret pain they are hiding and the effort they've made towards normalcy. The central ideas here are compelling and heartbreaking, and the ideas are vital for us to understand. I'm simply concerned that the emotional distance and meandering writing style may make it a hard sell for young readers.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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