Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr, Ronald Himler Read Free Book Online

Table of Contents
    Title Page
Dedication
- GOOD LUCK SIGNS
    - PEACE DAY
    - SADAKO’S SECRET
    - A SECRET NO LONGER
    - THE GOLDEN CRANE
    - KENJI
    - HUNDREDS OF WISHES
    - LAST DAYS
    - RACING WITH THE WIND
    EPILOGUE:
    Chizuko’s gift
    Chizuko was pleased with herself. “I’ve figured out a way for you to get well,” she said proudly. “Watch!” She cut a piece of gold paper into a large square. In a short time she had folded it over and over into a beautiful crane.
    Sadako was puzzled. “But how can that paper bird make me well?”
    “Don’t you remember that old story about the crane?” Chizuko asked. “It’s supposed to live for a thousand years. If a sick person folds one thousand paper cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again.” She handed the crane to Sadako. “Here’s your first one.”
    “[The] story speaks directly to young readers of the tragedy of Sadako’s death and, in its simplicity, makes a universal statement for ‘peace in the world.’ ” —The Horn Book
    “The story is told tenderly but with neither a morbid nor a sentimental tone: it is direct and touching.” —BCCB
    PUFFIN MODERN CLASSICS
    For Laura, who remembered Sadako
    PUFFIN BOOKS
    Published by Penguin Group
    Penguin Young Readers Group,
    345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
    Published by Puffin Books,
    a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 1999
    This Puffin Modern Classics edition published by Puffin Books,
    a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2004
    THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED
    THE G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS EDITION AS FOLLOWS:
    Coerr, Eleanor.
    Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.
    1. Leukemia in children—Juvenile literature. 2. Sasaki, Sadako, 1943-1955—Juvenile
    literature. 3. Atomic bomb—Physiological effect—Juvenile literature.
    4. Hiroshima—Bombardment, 1945—Juvenile literature. [1. Leukemia. 2. Sasaki,
    Sadako, 1943-1955. 3. Atomic bomb—Physiological effect. 4. Hiroshima—
    Bombardment, 1945. 5. Death—Fiction.] I. Himler, Ronald. II. Title.
    RJ416.L4C63 362.7’8’19615590 (B) (92) 76-9872
    eISBN : 978-1-101-04241-0

PROLOGUE
    Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is based on the life of a real little girl who lived in Japan from 1943 to 1955.
    She was in Hiroshima when the United States Air Force dropped an atom bomb on that city in an attempt to end World War II. Ten years later she died as a result of radiation from the bomb.
    Her courage made Sadako a heroine to children in Japan. This is the story of Sadako.
    GOOD LUCK SIGNS
    Sadako was born to be a runner. Her mother always said that Sadako had learned to run before she could walk.
    One morning in August 1954 Sadako ran outside into the street as soon as she was dressed. The morning sun of Japan touched brown highlights in her dark hair. There was not a speck of cloud in the blue sky. It was a good sign. Sadako was always on the lookout for good luck signs.
    Back in the house her sister and two brothers were still sleeping on their bed quilts. She poked her big brother, Masahiro.
    “Get up, lazybones!” she said. “It’s Peace Day!”
    Masahiro groaned and yawned. He wanted to sleep as long as possible, but like most fourteen-year-old boys, he also loved to eat. When he sniffed the good smell of bean soup, Masahiro got up. Soon Mitsue and Eiji were awake, too.
    Sadako helped Eiji get dressed. He was six, but he sometimes lost a sock or shirt. Afterward, Sadako folded the bed quilts. Her sister, Mitsue, who was nine, helped put them away in the closet.
    Rushing like a whirlwind into the kitchen, Sadako cried, “Oh, Mother! I can hardly wait to go to the carnival. Can we please hurry with breakfast?”
    Her mother was busily slicing pickled radishes to serve with the rice and soup. She looked sternly at Sadako. “You are eleven years old and should know better,” she scolded. “You must not call it a carnival. Every year on August sixth we remember those who died when the atom