Hello everyone,
Today’s review is on Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr.
About the Book
Hiroshima-born Sadako is lively and athletic–the star of her school’s running team. And then the dizzy spells start. Soon gravely ill with leukemia, the “atom bomb disease,” Sadako faces her future with spirit and bravery. Recalling a Japanese legend, Sadako sets to work folding paper cranes. For the legend holds that if a sick person folds one thousand cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again. Based on a true story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes celebrates the extraordinary courage that made one young woman a heroine in Japan.
My Thoughts
I came across Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes at work and remembered hearing about it several months ago. After reading the synopsis I knew I wanted to read it as soon as I got home, even though I knew it would be very sad.
For a really short book, it packs a punch in the best possible way. Just as we as readers get to know Sadako and her hopes for the future, we see her dreams of being a runner fall by the wayside when she is diagnosed with leukemia, as an after affect of the the bombing of Hiroshima at the end of World War 2. I loved Sadako’s hope and tenacity to get better, even though she would never recover. It was hard to read towards the end, even though what happens is no surprise to readers, it is still heart-breaking. It was a beautiful reminder of the casualties of war, as well as long lingering affects that may not be known for years to come.
Overall, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is a book I wish I had read as a kid, and I hope to share this beautiful story with my kids some day. 5/5 Stars.
Happy Reading,
Janelle L. C.
Meanderings of a BookWorm 