3 Reasons Why You Should Read The Mushroom in the Sky by Jackie French

What’s the book about?

1942.

Japan has bombed Sydney Harbour. Sixteen-year-old Ossie lies about his age to protect his country, even though it means abandoning his only family, a one-eyed dog named Lucky.

Kind-hearted Mrs Plum is already looking after forty-six dogs belonging to soldiers who’ve gone to war. She can’t possibly care for another. But just when she’s becoming desperate to find a way to feed them, help arrives: thirteen-year-old Kat Murphy volunteers to care for Lucky and persuades the girls at school to help, too.

As Kat and Lucky grow closer, Kat realises he can still see Ossie, the master he loves. And somehow, Kat and Ossie catch glimpses into each other’s lives, too. This extraordinary connection helps Ossie survive when he is taken as a prisoner of war to Japan. There, he witnesses a strange mushroom cloud rise above Nagasaki – the result of a bomb that will take, save and change lives, and forever leave the question: was it worth it?

Taken from eyewitness Japanese accounts of that extraordinary but often misunderstood time, this is a story of quiet heroism and endurance in the face of an unimaginable horror that continues to resound to this day.

Recommended for: 

Ages 12+

Three reasons to read it: 

1. This book is about the people we don’t always hear about like Australian teenagers who lied about their age to join the army, the Japanese civilians who lived through unthinkable horror, and the girls on the home front who rolled up their sleeves and made a difference. French uses eyewitness accounts, yes, from real Japanese people who saw the mushroom cloud rise, to tell a story that is as honest as it is emotional.
2. Meet Lucky, the one-eyed dog who’s been left behind when his best friend Ossie goes off to war. Lucky’s the emotional heartbeat of The Mushroom in the Sky. Through him, we see love, loyalty and a magical connection between two lives that shouldn’t still be linked… but somehow are. If you’ve ever loved an animal, this book will grab your heart and never let go.
3. At the center of this book is one of the most powerful questions in history: Was the bomb that ended the war worth it? French doesn’t give you a simple answer. Instead, she gives you stories of survivors, soldiers, families and a mushroom cloud that ended one kind of destruction while beginning another. The Mushroom in the Sky respects you enough to let you decide. It’s not about picking sides,it’s about understanding, feeling and thinking.

Buy a copy of The Mushroom in the Sky here.

About the author:

Jackie French AM is an award-winning writer, wombat negotiator, the 2014–2015 Australian Children’s Laureate and the 2015 Senior Australian of the Year. In 2016, Jackie became a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to children’s literature and her advocacy for youth literacy. She is regarded as one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors and writes across all genres — from picture books, history, fantasy, ecology and sci-fi, to her much-loved historical fiction for a variety of age groups. ‘A book can change a child’s life. A book can change the world’ was the primary philosophy behind Jackie’s two-year term as Laureate.