For twenty-five years, middle-grade readers have been moved by this account of Sadako Sasaki’s energetic battle with leukemia. He was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II, and the dizziness started when he was twelve years old. She faced the disease with an irrepressible spirit and focused her energy (and that of everyone who knew her) on folding 1000 paper cranes, which according to Japanese legend would prompt the gods to cure her again. Eleanor Coerr crafted this story of Sadako’s twelfth year after reading the book of her letters that her classmates compiled after her death. (Goodreads book announcement)
Before reading Sadako and the thousand paper cranesI had two misconceptions about the story. First, my image of Sadako in the story was the same as Sadako’s terrifying and long-haired from The ring Y The grudge.SecondI thought that cranes were those big pieces of equipment that are used to lift heavy objects. However, after reading reviews about the book, I realized that the Sadako in Eleanor Coerr’s book is the true story of a girl in Japan who died at the age of 12. And that the cranes referred to are not machines, but a type of long cranes. long legged and necked birds.
Sadako Sasaki was born in Hiroshima, Japan in 1943 and was two years old when the United States Air Force dropped the atomic bomb and destroyed the city. Ten years later, Sadako died of leukemia, or what was called at the time the “atomic bomb disease.” While she was in the hospital, Sadako’s friend Chizuko brought her a golden Origami crane. Origami is the traditional Japanese style of carving something out of folded paper. In Japanese culture, it is believed that a sick person who bends a thousand paper cranes will be cured. Sadako made paper cranes during her free time at the hospital, but she couldn’t complete 1,000. She was only able to finish 644 cranes until she died on October 25, 1955. Her classmates made the remaining 356 paper cranes and buried the 1,000 paper cranes with her. Sadako Sasaki became a symbol of the effects of nuclear war. A statue of her holding a paper crane was built in Hiroshima.
Sadako and the thousand paper cranes it’s a heartwarming short story, only 65 pages long, that can make you smile and cry at the same time. It is a story that tells the tragic aftermath of war and how often, in war, it is children who suffer the most. My copy of the book comes with illustrations by Kazuhiko Sano and towards the end of the book there is a tutorial on how to fold a paper crane. Out of curiosity, I decided to follow the instructions but couldn’t get past step 16 (there are 33 steps). Either the instructions are inaccurate or I just don’t have the patience to follow the instructions carefully. Whatever it is, I find folding paper cranes a tedious task, especially for a little girl suffering from leukemia who has to fight weakness and dizziness, not to mention swelling in some parts of her body. Sadako Sasaki is indeed a symbol of endurance, hope, and courage, and her story reminds me that I must be persistent and strong despite all the odds, not to mention how to finish my own Origami Crane.
I recommend it Sadako and the thousand paper cranes for Eleanor Coerr for everyone, both young and old. It’s a quick and easy read, but it can’t be forgotten for long.
4 stars.
