Sadako is born in Hiroshima shortly before the atomic bomb is dropped. She grows into a wonderful, high-spirited girl with dreams of becoming the fastest runner in her school. One day at school, she has a dizzy spell and collapses. At the hospital, Sadako and her family learn that the atomic bomb sickness has begun to affect her. To pass the time during her hospital stay, she begins to build origami cranes. First published in 1977, Eleanor Coerr's Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is a classic of the modern age. Based on the life of a real girl who lived and died in Japan, Sadako's heartbreaking story endures as a tribute to the spirit and bravery of a young girl facing terminal illness. Coerr's work speaks to the injustices of war and the dream of world peace, imparting the message that human life is fundamentally the same, regardless of race, religion or nationality.