The uncomplicated prose and vocabulary of this book belies the impact of the story and the emotion that it stirs. Yep uses simple words to describe this horrific event in World History. He doesn’t avoid the hard truths. He explains radiation and its effect on the human body. He speaks of the flames that consumed the acid rain that fell, the piled bodies of the dead, the loss, the horror, the death. The story starts with a fictional girl, Sachi, who is pulled from the real experience of several women. The reader walks with her, through her day, through the fire, the burning rain, the loss of her father and sister, and her eventual travel to the US as one of the Hiroshima Maidens.
This is not a book for a faint-hearted child, but it is intended to child. The language is directed at elementary-age reader. This is a profound work, and worth reading. It is a necessary addition to a home-school library, and excellent as an introduction to this event in history. ( )

I don't know if this is classified as fiction, really. It's like a research paper with a small amount of fiction, as there are two girls very briefly characterized who represent some of the children in Hiroshima at the time, but not enough to care about or become attached to them. The rest of it reads like a research paper. Full of interesting facts & details that one wouldn't get from their Social Studies textbook, this book is written in simple sentences at what seems like a 3rd grade level, even though it's labeled to be 4th grade. My son could easily understand this (grade 3). It's a perfect trade book to have in your classroom, grades 5-8. (I read the whole book in 20 minutes). ( )

I don't know that I'd even call this as long as a novella; at under 5,000 words, it's officially a short story. Whatever it is, it's an identity crisis: part journalistic, part academic, part narrative, none of it blended particularly well. The writing, with its simple language and staccato sentences, is more reminiscent of picture books than the chapter book this wants to be. Not a strong offering to middle-school (or even upper-elementary) WWII lit; try Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes or Barefoot Gen instead. ( )

http://thenovelworld.com/2010/03/15/hiroshima-review/ ( )

A fictionalized story of the Hiroshima disaster.