The haunting story of a promise made long ago ... a powerful novel set in contemporary Japan and also in 1945, Hiroshima, the day the nuclear bomb was so devastatingly dropped on the city
Kerry Drewery is the author of the CELL 7 trilogy, the first of which was shortlisted for the Lancashire Libraries Book of the Year 2018 and has been translated into more than a dozen languages, as well as two other highly acclaimed YA novels:A Brighter Fear in 2012 (which was Love Reading 4 Kids Book of the Month and shortlisted for the Leeds Book Award) and A Dream of Lights in 2013 (which was nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, awarded Highly Commended at the North East Teen Book Awards and shortlisted for the Hampshire Independent Schools Book Awards). Both were published by HarperCollins in the UK and Callenbach in The Netherlands.
An outstanding and heart filled book that should find its way into
every school library
*Books for Keeps*
This is a harrowing tale but the ultimate redemption in the story
leaves one with a sense of hope. Highly recommended.
*Love Reading 4 Schools*
Flicking between contemporary Japan and 1945, this story is
simultaneously heart-warming and heartbreaking. Told in dual
narrative verse and prose, we hear from both Mizuki and her
grandfather. Mizuki is worried about him. Slowly, her grandfather
tells his story and shares his experience of surviving the atomic
bombing of Hiroshima. He reveals the events that have haunted him
throughout his life. By creating moving and relatable characters,
Kerry Drewery has beautifully conveyed the unique, human experience
of living through a catastrophic event.
*The Scotsman*
I loved this book. Such a heart-breaking and difficult subject, but
Kerry's writing is beautiful, lyrical and poetic and has created a
story that manages to be heart-warming and life-affirming whilst
covering one of the most devastating events of the last
century.
*Liz Kessler*
A spell-binding story that spans generations, telling the story of
Ichiro who experiences the Hiroshima atomic bomb as a child and his
granddaughter Mizuki who will do anything to help him in his old
age, including trying to repair a 70-year=old broken promise. An
innovative and moving story told through a mixture of prose poetry,
and haiku sequences.
*School Reading List*
This may be one of the most affecting books that I have ever read.
And one of the most beautiful. The tragedy that was the dropping of
the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is rarely spoken of
today. It is barely remembered by those old enough to do so and
totally unknown to many young people. The Last Paper Crane by Kerry
Drewery is about remembering. Remembering people, places and
promises. Illustrated with great sensitivity by Natsko Seki, it is
remarkable for its restraint, its sparse eloquence and its
compassion. Mizuki is worried about her grandfather, a survivor of
Hiroshima, and to understand his anxiety she listens to the story
of that day in 1945 when his world exploded without warning. The
young Ichiro, his best friend and little sister are catapulted into
a landscape resembling nothing they can comprehend. A promise is
made; it is almost lost and then redeemed. Moving between two
timescapes, in Haiku, free verse and elegant prose, Kerry Drewery
describes the shock and the loss but never dwells on the horror.
The baffled young man is brave and honourable and forgiving. He
bears no anger and no resentment. But the silent question 'why?'
rings out from his story as he witnesses unspeakable suffering.
Both the author and the illustrator describe their personal sense
of responsibility and the need to bear witness. They take great
care to show only what is essential, and their clarity of purpose
hits home far better than a lurid retelling would do. This is not
only a very good book; it is an important one. We are all stories,
the author says. And stories must be read and told and heard in
order to live.
*Childrens Books Ireland*
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