LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
This novel moves from poetry to prose, and back again, as it explores a girl’s relationship with her Grandfather. Mizuki can see something is deeply troubling to her Grandfather Ichiro, but she can’t find its source, except it is somehow connected with an old book and Ichiro’s need to create origami paper cranes from it.
Mizuki’s worries are expressed in verse before we jump back into prose - to the at times brutal description of the day the bomb fell on Hiroshima and Ichiro’s role in that day and beyond. The descriptions of the effects of the bomb are based on effective research and from survivor’s tales and told in such a way that the reader is entirely there in the moment and the long days after as Hiro rebuilds a life for himself. As we return to Japan in 2018 the novel reverts to poetry to the very modern tale of how Mizuki uses the internet to try to get to the bottom of the problem facing her elderly grandfather.
The illustrations in the book help create the many impressions and emotions aroused by the story – they are based on Japanese brush and ink techniques and add a further layer to this already impressive book. This is a harrowing tale but the ultimate redemption in the story leaves one with a sense of hope. Highly recommended.
Tricia Adams
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About
The Last Paper Crane Synopsis
25% Loss, 25% Memory, 25% Haiku, 25% Peace
A Japanese teenager, Mizuki, is worried about her grandfather who is clearly desperately upset about something. He says that he has never got over something that happened in his past and gently Mizuki persuades him to tell her what it is.
We are taken to 1945, Hiroshima, and Mizuki's grandfather as a teenage boy chatting at home with his friend Hiro. Moments later the horrific nuclear bomb is dropped on Hiroshima. What follows is a searing account of the blinding flash, the harrowing search for family and the devastation both human and physical. There is also the very moving and human story as the two teenage boys with great bravery search for and find Keiko, Hiro's five-year-old sister. But then Keiko is lost when Mizuki's grandfather has no option but to leave her in a safe place while he goes for help... Despite a desperate search in the aftermath of the bomb, where he leaves origami folded paper cranes for Keiko with his address on everywhere a survivor could be, he cannot find her...
A powerful novel that, despite its harrowing subject matter, has hope at its heart
About This Edition
ISBN: |
9781471413537 |
Publication date: |
4th August 2022 |
Author: |
Kerry Drewery |
Illustrator: |
Natsko Seki |
Publisher: |
Hot Key Books |
Format: |
Paperback |
Pagination: |
284 pages |
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Press Reviews
Kerry Drewery Press Reviews
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. - LoveReading4Schools
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
Author
About Kerry Drewery
Kerry Drewery has always had a passion for writing. She was a finalist in a BBC script-writing competition in 2009 and is currently hugely involved with Bookstart. Kerry lives in Lincolnshire with her husband and children.
The story of A Brighter Fear was created through Kerry’s own fascination with the Iraq war. Kerry’s sensitive approach creates a beautiful, contemporary fairytale that will stay with teen readers for a lifetime.
More About Kerry Drewery
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Joint Winner the UKLA Book Awards 2021
Find out more about the UKLA Awards 2021
The Last Paper Crane by Kerry Drewery was praised for its sensitive and compassionate handling of history, the enriching discussion that it provoked and for the fact that it was so cleverly constructed with the use of different text formats and with the illustration by Natsuo Seki enriching the emotional impact. UKLA 2021 11-14 age category