Today on the podcast I have Kathleen Burkinshaw author of the middle-grade novel The Last Cherry Blossom, which takes place in Hiroshima during the war before and after the atomic bomb is dropped. It is told through the eyes of Yoriko, a 12 year old girl. Based loosely on Kathleen’s mother’s firsthand experience surviving the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Kathleen is a Japanese American author residing in Charlotte, NC. She has presented her mother's experience in Hiroshima to middle and high schools for the past 8 years. The Last Cherry Blossom is one of BOOK RIOT's "30 Fascinating Historical Fiction Books for Middle School Readers"! The book was 2018 Finalist Sakura Medal Japan and 2018 & 2016 Scholastic WNDB Reading Club Selection

You can find out more about Kathleen here: http://kathleenburkinshaw.com/

You can buy her book here: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781634506939

Music for this episode is "beeKoo mix" by Lasswell 2007 - Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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