Never Silent

Gr 5 Up–August 6, 1945, was not only 13-year-old Setsuko Nakamura’s first day of work decoding for the Japanese military. It was also the day the United States dropped an atomic bomb on her hometown, forever changing her life. While the Press Code, a policy passed by U.S. forces occupying Japan, censored criticisms of the bombing, Nakamura chose not to remain silent. After moving to North America, she began sharing her story and became a nuclear disarmament activist, joining the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and delivering the Nobel Peace Prize lecture on the group’s behalf in 2017. Nakamura’s account is told in first person, helping readers understand the real person behind the words on the page. Her story is also matter-of-fact, neither sensationalizing nor glossing over the horrors of the Hiroshima bombing and the backlash she later faced for speaking against nuclear war. Her story is interwoven with informational text offering context about Hiroshima, World War II, and contemporary efforts to ban nuclear weapons. The text is occasionally lengthy but gives necessary context to Nakamura’s life. Photographs are accompanied by cartoon-style art in muted colors complementing the book’s serious topic. The back matter features a time line and bibliography which includes interviews with Nakamura.