Voices of Pearl Harbor

Texas Institute of Letters H-E-B/Jean Flynn Children's Book Award Finalist

Japan's surprise attack on December 7, 1941, devastated the American Naval Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and forced America into World War II. These moving accounts of the lives affected by the assault capture the scope of the day's emotions and its influence on generations.

Author Sherry Garland's thorough research provides a background to sixteen historical and representational characters that come alive on the pages of this book. Through compelling narratives and haunting imagery, readers follow along on that fateful day as a Japanese aviator wears the belt his mother stitched for luck, an American soldier tries to arm himself during the attack, a ship's cook takes charge of a powerful gun to defend his country, and a small boy watches the USS Arizona go down in flames. The generational impact is evident years later as a young girl and her grandfather seek healing at the USS Arizona Memorial. These heart-wrenching events play out against powerful illustrations that bring the people-and the story-to life.