Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by: Reviewed by: Aidan

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes     Sadako is a 12 year old Japanese girl who is very energetic and cheerful.  She always breaks the rules.  She is a very good runner and is on a track and field team.  She was born in the year the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan.  There was a kind of cancer you can get from the atomic bombs and it was very serious.  One day she as practicing for a race and she fell down and fainted.  Sadako went to the doctor’s office.  Her friend tells her to make 1,000 paper cranes if she gets sick and she will be better.  You have to read the book to find out what happens to Sadako.     The strengths of this book are the show not tell paragraphs.  The suspense plus the cliff hangers at the end of every chapter. The weakness of the book is the length of the chapters. The chapters could be 5 pages longer and still be short.      The best paragraph of the book is when she faints.  It says “Sadako fell to the ground like a bird that just got shot and was on its ways down to the ground” It was much better then saying she fell to the ground.  The author writes very realistically and you can almost feel like you are in the story.  For example, when Sadako was running to the carnival I felt like I was running to a carnival.  Some people would not would not enjoy the author’s way of writing but some people would.      I recommend this book for 10, 11, 12, and 13 year olds. This is a quick-read but it is the best book I’ve ever read.  The story is based on a true story that happened in Japan.  Kids From 7-8 could read the book with an adult or a parent.  A reader who likes to read a lot would like the book but people who don’t like to read mite not like the book that much.

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