The Blossom and the Firefly (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781524737900)

From the award-winning author of Flygirl comes this powerful WWII romance between two Japanese teens caught in the cogs of an unwinnable war, perfect for fans of Salt to the Sea, Lovely War, and Code Name Verity.

Japan 1945. Taro is a talented violinist and a kamikaze pilot in the days before his first and only mission. He believes he is ready to die for his country . . . until he meets Hana. Hana hasn't been the same since the day she was buried alive in a collapsed trench during a bomb raid. She wonders if it would have been better to have died that day . . . until she meets Taro.

A song will bring them together. The war will tear them apart. Is it possible to live an entire lifetime in eight short days?

Sherri L. Smith has been called an author with astonishing range and a stellar storyteller by E. Lockhart, the New York Times-bestselling author of We Were Liars, and a truly talented writer by Jacqueline Woodson, the National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming. Here, with achingly beautiful prose, Smith weaves a tale of love in the face of death, of hope in the face of tragedy, set against a backdrop of the waning days of the Pacific War.

Author: Sherri L. Smith
ISBN-10: 1524737909
ISBN-13: 9781524737900
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Language: English
Published: 02/18/2020
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 1.20d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.2
Point Value: 10
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 509570 / Blossom and the Firefly

Award: Golden Kite - Winner

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 11/25/2019
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 01/01/2020
Kirkus Reviews 12/15/2019
Booklist 01/01/2020 pg. 85
School Library Journal 01/31/2020 pg. 1
Horn Book Magazine 03/01/2020 pg. 89
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2020 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style

About the Author
Sherri L. Smith is the author of several novels for young adults, including the critically acclaimed Flygirl, Orleans, and Pasadena, as well as the middle-grade novel The Toymaker's Apprentice. She teaches creative writing at Goddard College and Hamline University and lives in Los Angeles, California.