Soul Lanterns

Shaw Kuzki's lyrical novel, though perhaps written for youthful readers, presents a powerful message for readers of all ages about the horrific consequences of war. In a striking way that is not judgmental or preachy, she confronts the reader through the eyes of second generation children with the tragedy of decimating tens of thousands of innocent civilians in a matter of seconds, with double the amount dying from the effects of radiation weeks to years after the bombing.I recall being struck 24 years ago when I had my first opportunity to visit both Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor in the same year. I found it fascinating that Hiroshima, a place where children and mothers were melted by the atomic bomb, is a site dedicated to peace. I did not find that at the military site of Pearl Harbor. Kuzki also captures this desire for peace through the eyes of the children learning details of August 6, 1945 from survivors' stories. These stories - what they wish they would have said or done had they known they would never see their child or beloved again - are haunting pleas that such a tragedy never occur again.In this current time when anger, hostility, and violence are rising in so many countries, her message is critically important.

This is a wonderful story about friends and family, loss and grieving, and the legacy of war and violence. It's gorgeous and heart-wrenching, yet still manages to be hopeful. Plus it tumbles together stories of adults and teens with gentle threads of mystery and equal weight given to each set of stories. I loved the vivid and evocative writing, particularly the way each character feels like a completely real lived-in person. There's also a great audiobook, but maybe don't listen in the car while driving-I speak from experience because I cried my eyes out, like sobbing crying, while driving home from work very slowly.

Nozomi lives in Hiroshima, Japan, and accompanies her mother and grandmother each year to the paper lantern floating ceremony to honor lives lost during the bombing.She and her friends begin to be interested in the stories that the survivors had to share and decide to do an art project called Hiroshima Before and After the Bombing.This was a little difficult to read because it was translated from Japanese. However, it was a very touching book.

Nozomi lives in the suburbs of Hiroshima in 1970. Every year, she goes with her family to a lantern lighting ceremony on the river that honors the people lost in "the flash", the bombing on August 6th. This year, she sees a woman staring at her. The woman asks how old she is (she's 12), and then how old her mother is. Nozomi knows that her father lost his first wife and two of his sisters, and her mother also lost people. One of the lanterns that her mother lights, however, has no name on it, which makes her curious. A school project on "Hiroshima Then and Now" gets Nozomi and her friends thinking about the people around them who would have lived through the bombing. Nozomi hears a story about her art teacher, Mr. Yoshioka, who lost his girlfriend, and who found only a comb he had given her after the bombing. Shun finds out more about his uncommunicative neighbor, Mrs. Sudo, who lost her husband in the war and her young son in the bombing. Kozo learns about his aunt, Sumi, who was a teacher who tried to save six of her students. The more the students delve into the past, the most they are able to appreciate the horrible human toll that the war took on those around them. Nozomi even finds out about the woman who stared at her during the lantern ceremony, and is able to settle questions about a past relationship that her mother had. Mr. Yoshioka, who is suffering from tuberculosis and spends some time in a sanatorium, helps the students process the different stories they have heard and to understand the role that Japan played in World War II as well as the lingering effects that this history had on the community.Good PointsThis was certainly a fresh and unusual historical perspective, and I love the fact that this was originally published in Japan! Such a window into how a population dealt with a horrific historical event. Setting this book in 1970, when survivors were still plentiful but when the average twelve year old would have felt very removed from the events was excellent. Having three friends at school working on a project, and asking people around them what they remember will resonate with my readers, who are often assigned projects where they have to ask adults about 9/11 or the Challenger Disaster. I very much enjoyed this one.I would love to see more books by #ownvoices authors translated for the US middle grade market, like this one and Kashiwaba Temple Alley Summer. There could have been a little more information, for US readers, about how Japan reacted to the bombings with calls for peace. The Japanese reaction to the events of World War II is something I didn't really learn about until after college.This is a fantastic addition to books about the aftermath of WWII in Japan, such as Dicicco and Sasaki's The Complete Story of Sadako Sasaki , Yep's Hiroshima, Stelson,'s Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story, Burkinshaw's The Last Cherry Blossom, Smith's The Blossom and the Firefly , Napoli's In a Flash and Kadohata's A Place to Belong.

In SOUL LANTERNS, a group of art students in Hiroshima decides to create art on the city before and after the atomic bomb was dropped after interviewing victims of the bomb. As one student says, during the war, art school students were the first to be drafted and sent to the front because "people said they were studying something that didn't contribute to the country." Their project, then, becomes a testament to the power and importance of art, a way to bear witness and to heal.Having lived in Japan for over thirty years, I have been constantly reminded of the horrors of the atomic bomb. At times I feel as if I have heard enough, however, the stories told in this novel are moving in their specificity. Young people, who feel far removed from the events of this book, will no doubt have a better understanding of the very real dangers of nuclear weapons.Though spare, this slender, volume deftly translated by Emily Balistrieri, packs a punch.

Powerful and heart wrenching story.Strongly recommended book for even adults.