The Last Cherry Blossom, Kathleen Burkinshaw
The Last Cherry Blossom, Kathleen Burkinshaw
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The Last Cherry Blossom

Author: Kathleen Burkinshaw

Narrator: Yuuki Luna

Unabridged: 4 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/27/2021

Synopsis

Yuriko was happy growing up in Hiroshima when it was just her and Papa. But her aunt, Kimiko, and her cousin, Genji, are living with them now, and the family is only getting bigger with talk of a double marriage! And while things are changing at home, the world beyond their doors is even more unpredictable: World War II is coming to an end, and since the Japanese newspapers don't report lost battles, the Japanese people are not entirely certain of where Japan stands. Yuriko is used to the sirens and the air-raid drills, but things start to feel more real when the neighbors who have left to fight stop coming home. When the bombs hit Hiroshima, it's through Yuriko's twelve-year-old eyes that we witness the devastation and horror. This is a story that offers young listeners insight into how children lived during the war, while also introducing them to Japanese culture. Based on author Kathleen Burkinshaw's mother's firsthand experience surviving the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, The Last Cherry Blossom hopes to warn listeners of the immense damage nuclear war can bring, while reminding them that the enemy in any war is often not so different from ourselves.

About Kathleen Burkinshaw

Kathleen Burkinshaw is a Japanese American author and the daughter of a Hiroshima survivor. In 2019, she spoke about her mother's experience in Hiroshima at the United Nations. She has been featured on PBS, local NPR stations, and Japanese and English programs on NHK World Japan, as well as in Asian American magazines/newspapers and two major Japanese newspapers. She lives with her husband and daughter in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About Yuuki Luna

Yuuki Luna was born as Yuuki Luna Yamagiwa. She is an actress, producer, and audiobook narrator known for WandaVision, Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop, and Sijipeuseu: The Myth.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Katy O. on August 04, 2017

Thank you to the author for providing a copy of this book to #kidlitexchange for review purposes - all opinions are my own. I did already have a copy in my school library as well. Haunting and impeccably written for a middle grade audience, THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM is a required purchase for middle g......more

Goodreads review by Megalion on August 01, 2016

A haunting tale for children about the bombing of Hiroshima. One that was put into writing in novel form by the author at the urging of all the teachers whose classrooms she visited to share her mother's story. The book is adapted from Kathleen's mother's life as a young girl living in Hiroshima. Mo......more

Goodreads review by Amber on August 22, 2016

Kathleen Burkinshaw tells a powerful, heartbreaking, and deeply moving story about the devastating impact of nuclear war (and the senseless hatred that fuels it), all from the perspective of a twelve year-old girl growing up in Hiroshima in the final days of WWII. Without a doubt, this is one of the......more

Goodreads review by Tarun on July 31, 2016

The Last Cherry Blossom opens on our main character, Yuriko, hiding under a school desk, torn between the panic of another air raid and her desire to receive a grade on her thoroughly-researched family history project. These sorts of harrowing contrasts continue throughout the story, growing only mo......more

Goodreads review by Wendy on August 23, 2016

What a beautiful book. When I began reading The Last Cherry Blossom, I wondered if I would feel a compulsion to read ahead to the event (the bombing of Hiroshima), as if that might be THE centerpiece of the book, but I was wrong. Instead, I found myself completely captivated by the central character......more

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