Sachiko Yasui was six years old when the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Up until then, she had led a life under duress because of the war, but the bomb changed everything. In the immediate aftermath, she and her family sought shelter and medical help, but her surviving brothers soon died of radiation sickness. For many years Sachiko didn’t speak of what happened but more recently, realizing that the truth would soon be lost, she chose to come forward to talk about the appalling event and its aftermath, both immediate and long term. Author Caren Stelson did extensive background research on various peace and civil rights movements (subjects that inform Sachiko’s worldview today), as well as took many trips to Japan to interview Sachiko Yasui. Stelson also provides a historical context for the events leading up to the bombings, challenging the oft-repeated official narrative that it was done solely to save American lives that would have been lost in an invasion of Japan. Sachiko emerges as a woman both ordinary and extraordinary in this intense and gripping work. (Ages 11–14)

A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
A National Book Award Longlist Selection
Jane Addams Children's Book Award
Flora Stieglitz Straus Award
A Booklist Editor's Choice

"Magnetic and chilling in its simplicity."--The New York Times Book Review

August 9, 1945, began like any other day for six-year-old Sachiko. Her country was at war, she didn't have enough to eat. At 11:01 a.m., she was playing outdoors with four other children. Moments later, those children were all dead. An atomic bomb had exploded just half a mile away.

In the days and months that followed, Sachiko lost family members, her hair fell out, she woke screaming in the night. When she was finally well enough to start school, other children bullied her. Through it all, she sought to understand what had happened, finding strength in the writings of Helen Keller, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Based on extensive interviews with Sachiko Yasui, Caren Stelson shares the true story of a young girl who survived the atomic bomb and chronicles her long journey to find peace. Sachiko offers readers a remarkable new perspective on the final moments of World War II--and their aftermath.The paperback edition includes an afterword with updates on Sachiko's legacy.