Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor coerr

Genre: Middle Grade, Biography

Source: Purchased

It has been over thirty years since I read this book. I decided to purchase and reread it again today.  This is the story of a young girl who was an infant when the United States dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima. So many people died. Worse yet were those who developed leukemia years later. Sadako was one of them. She loved to run. She had a dream of making the running team when she got to Junior High. Instead of running, she found herself in the hospital battling leukemia. Her best friend brought her a golden origami crane. She had made it based on the story they had been told about a person making a thousand paper cranes, then they will get well.  

I am sixty-six at this reading. I was so touched at the message in this book. It is a message of hope and never giving up. It is a message of reaching for your dreams.  The author was inspired to write this story for the kids in America. She based it on the biography  of Sadako's life written by her classmates and published. I enjoyed rereading this book so much that I will make sure that I have a copy on my shelves at school. I want to reintroduce one of the most inspirational books I have ever read to a new generation of students.