Book Description
Two-year-old Sadako Sasaki was living in Hiroshima when the atom bomb was dropped. She was the star of her school’s running team, until the dizzy spells started. She was diagnosed with leukemia and was forced to face the hardest race of her life—the race against time. There is a Japanese legend that says that if a sick person folds 1,000 paper cranes, the gods will make her well again. Sadako spent long hours in bed, folding those paper cranes, and never giving up that hope. When Sadako had folded six hundred and forty-four cranes, and they hung above her bed on strings, her classmates folded the rest.

About the Author
Eleanor Coerr wrote many books for young readers including Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. She grew up Saskatchewan, Canada and developed an interest in Japan through her best friend in high school, whose parents were Japanese immigrants.