Review by Booklist Review
Two events in WWII's Pacific theater lead to congruence and awareness in poems composed by Newbery Medal-winning Lowry, which explore Pearl Harbor specifically the sinking of the battleship Arizona and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. What makes the poems special and so relatable for young audiences is how they overlap with Lowry's childhood experiences. As a toddler on Oahu, Hawaii, she played in the sand as the Arizona floated in the background. As a girl living in postwar Japan, she crossed paths with a boy who had witnessed the strike on Hiroshima. These moments, specific to Lowry and the boy who became children's author Allen Say bookend other vivid moments defining the lives of those involved in either tragedy. The story of Captain Kidd and other sailors aboard the battleship is the focus of the first series of poems, mirroring the second section, which covers a Japanese boy and his bicycle, as well as Sadako and her origami cranes. Part three brings Lowry to postwar moments and to the present, when she visits memorials for the Arizona and Hiroshima. Pak's illustrations likewise focus on simple moments, items, and portraits. The effect is deeply felt and emotive, not about sides but about people, and it's sure to lead readers to think deeply on these dual tragedies of war. A must for all collections. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Any new project from two-time Newbery Medal-winner Lowry is big news, and this turn to poetry supported by an author tour is sure to intrigue.--Karen Cruze Copyright 2020 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
As a child, two-time Newbery Medalist Lowry lived in Hawaii and Japan, where her father was deployed during and after WWII. Lowry uses that personal lens to view two horrific acts of war: the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan and the atomic destruction of Hiroshima by the U.S. In a slim volume, a variety of poetic forms convey details about people whose lives were lost or forever changed: 37 sets of brothers were aboard the USS Arizona, where 1,177 people died; a four-year-old Japanese boy in Hiroshima was buried with his beloved red tricycle. The book's structure makes the events feel like equivalent tragedies, which may trouble some readers, since both were acts of war, but the U.S. bombed noncombatants. A third section details Lowry's experiences living in postwar Japan; some remembrances lighten the otherwise somber mood, including one surprise about Lowry's childhood encounter with a boy who would also go on to become a luminary in children's literature. Part memoir, part history, this is a powerful reminder that damage done will be remembered for many decades to come. Black-and-white illustrations by Pak have the feeling of vintage photographs. Ages 10--12. Author's agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management. Illustrator's agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Agency. (Apr.)■
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr ----Lowry recounts her memories of being a child in Hawaii and her experience of moving to Tokyo when she was 11. Her personal experiences serve as the narrative foundation that eulogizes the many lives lost in two of World War II's tragic events: the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima. This series of beautiful, moving, and sometimes horrifying poems gives a voice to the young men on the USS Arizona and offers an equally moving tribute to the survivors of Hiroshima. A brief introduction explains the author's presence in Hawaii and recounts the bombing of Pearl Harbor, followed by the poems of survivors as well as those who died. The poems are touching but also very specific and sometimes graphic. One discusses the captain of the Arizona and how his ring from the Naval Academy was found melted and fused to a mast of the ship. Poems about those who experienced Hiroshima are equally graphic but certainly just as compelling. The second half of the book provides a brief explanation about the bombing of Hiroshima followed by the poems. The final section depicts Lowry's experiences living in Tokyo. The author shares her hope for the future and stresses the interconnectedness of humanity. VERDICT While not an essential purchase, Lowry offers a unique view of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima in an unusual format that could be useful for the classroom. Teachers looking for different approaches to history could use this title to highlight the differences and similarities that perspective brings to history.--Susan Lissim, Dwight School, New York City
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Review by Horn Book Review
In a poetry collection thats as much structure as style and theme, Lowry considers two events: the bombings of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima. In the books first section, poems about the authors connections to Pearl Harbor (she was born in Hawaii and lived there before the war) are interspersed with others commemorating some of the sailors who served on the USS Arizona. (The presence of an appended bibliography seems to indicate that these sailors and their experiences are not fictional, but theres no statement to that effect.) The second section, about Hiroshima, takes a similar tack, with poems inspired by Lowrys postwar childhood in Tokyo included among others devoted to the experiences of those in Japan on August 6th, 1945. She was a young girl with / a singed uniform, and / a lifetime / of nightmares. A third section brings together the surprising link, discovered almost fifty years after the war, between the little Lois of the first section and a certain Koichi Seii introduced in the second. (We all learned about it at the 1994 Newbery-Caldecott Banquet.) Theres a lot of scaffolding for such a slim book, but the poems themselves, a mix of free verse and (sometimes questionable) rhyme, are agreeably spare; the best are the triolets that close each section: We could not be friends. Not then. Not yet. / Until the cloud dispersed and cleared, / we needed time to mend, forget. / We could not be friends. Not then. Not yet... Modest pencil sketches throughout reflect and enhance the elegiac mood. Roger Sutton July/August 2020 p.147(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In spare verse, Lowry reflects on moments in her childhood, including the bombings of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima. When she was a child, Lowry played at Waikiki Beach with her grandmother while her father filmed. In the old home movie, the USS Arizona appears through the mist on the horizon. Looking back at her childhood in Hawaii and then Japan, Lowry reflects on the bombings that began and ended a war and how they affected and connected everyone involved. In Part 1, she shares the lives and actions of sailors at Pearl Harbor. Part 2 is stories of civilians in Hiroshima affected by the bombing. Part 3 presents her own experience as an American in Japan shortly after the war ended. The poems bring the haunting human scale of war to the forefront, like the Christmas cards a sailor sent days before he died or the 4-year-old who was buried with his red tricycle after Hiroshima. All the personal storiesof sailors, civilians, and Lowry herselfare grounding. There is heartbreak and hope, reminding readers to reflect on the past to create a more peaceful future. Lowry uses a variety of poetry styles, identifying some, such as triolet and haiku. Pak's graphite illustrations are like still shots of history, adding to the emotion and somber feeling. He includes some sailors of color among the mostly white U.S. forces; Lowry is white. A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history. (author's note, bibliography) (Memoir/poetry. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
