• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2016 November #1
  *Starred Review* Kids often grapple with historic events, especially when the event is something as unfathomable as the bombing of Hiroshima during WWII. This engaging story creates context by skillfully weaving together the experiences of two very different characters: Yuko, a Hiroshima survivor, and Chris, a totally relatable ninth-grader. Chris is a good student and pathetic football player who is occasionally an awkward jerk, especially around girls. Yuko is a fragile grandmother, and her memories of surviving the blast as an eleven-year-old are interspersed throughout the book. Chris' story begins when protesters interrupt his beloved great-grandfather's funeral. His parents won't talk about it, so Chris enlists the help of classmates, including Carson, his best friend (the only deaf student in school, whose disability is seamlessly woven into the narrative). They gradually uncover information about his great-grandfather's involvement in the Manhattan Project, as Chris simultaneously convinces the school's travel club to change their destination to Japan. Once there, Chris and Yuko actually meet, and Yuko tells Chris that she is no longer angry—she just wants to tell her story so that people will remember. There's sufficient action to keep readers engaged, including a little mysticism and a bit of romance. This memorable addition to Hiroshima literature should resonate with readers. Copyright 2016 Booklist Reviews.

David A. Poulsen has been a broadcaster, teacher, football coach, and actor, who spends eighty to one hundred days each year as a visiting author in schools across Canada. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Old Man, which was shortlisted for the Forest of Reading White Pine award, and Numbers which won the Sakura Medal in Japan. He lives in the foothills west of Claresholm, Alberta.