• Age: 11 to 18
• Grade: 6 to 12
• Reading age: 11 to 18

To be published on what will be the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, survivor Setsuko Thurlow shares her memories of that horrific event and her resulting lifelong commitment to activism to ban nuclear arms.

When Setsuko Thurlow was thirteen, she witnessed one of history’s most horrific events. She experienced—and survived—the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Since then, she has worked tirelessly to educate people about the catastrophe and to ensure that it never happens again. As a leading member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), she gave the acceptance speech when the organization won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

Never Silent recounts Setsuko’s earliest memories of her happy life in Hiroshima, followed by the devastating firsthand impact she witnesses after the dropping of the atomic bomb, and finally traces the steps she takes to rebuild a life in the aftermath of her experiences. With informational text scattered throughout the book to give historical context for the places and events, readers are given a full and profoundly affecting picture of what it was like after the bomb dropped, the struggle to return to normalcy, and the plea for activism to ban nuclear weapons.

Setsuko Thurlow was thireen years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the city she grew up in. Setsuko survived the blast, but that event shaped her life, as she worked tirelessly to make sure that no one would ever again experience that horrific event.

Setsuko has devoted her adult life to campaigning for nuclear disarmament, working with the organization ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. Setsuko lives in Toronto, Canada.

Setsuko Thurlow's profile page

KATHY LOWINGER is an award-winning author whose books include Give Me Wings! How a Choir of Former Slaves Took on the World (2015), Turtle Island: The Story of North America’s First People (2017), and What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion and Renewal (2019). 

Kathy Lowinger's profile page

Michelle Theodore was born and raised in Edmonton. She loves making intelligent and captivating illustrations that evoke a deep emotional connection. Her recent work focuses on exploring the intangible feelings of childhood memory and her strong obsession with the pull of the ocean.

Michelle Theodore's profile page