Folding Paper Cranes: An Atomic Memoir
*Starred Review*  Bird was an 18-year-old marine in 1954 when he first visited Hiroshima and the International Park for World Peace. Three years later, he crouched in a small trench dug into Yucca Flat, as Shot Hood, "the largest, dirtiest, and most controversial device ever exploded over North America," was detonated. As he so chillingly describes, a voice over the loudspeaker commanded, "Stand up and face ground zero! Watch the fireball!" Bird and company stood, the mushroom cloud rose to 40,000 feet, and the men, unwitting guinea pigs in a diabolical experiment, were showered with radioactive dust. His body and soul forever etched by this horror, Bird, who contracted a form of bone-blood cancer, felt compelled to return to Hiroshima and its peace park. With humility and empathy, he reflects on how the survivors have "memorialized and transcended their nuclear apocalypse" by creating a "culture of peace." At once direct and poetic, always candid and compelling, Bird speaks to everyone curious about our tragic atomic legacy and the future of nuclear weapons. With his unique perspective and gift for powerful expression, Bird has crafted the perfect book for marking the sixtieth anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved