The Blossom and the Firefly

A GOLDEN KITE AWARD WINNER • From the acclaimed author of Flygirl comes this powerful WWII romance between two Japanese teens caught in the cogs of an unwinnable war.

“Delicate and incandescent by turns, this jewel of a tale of war and love is breathtakingly courageous.”—Elizabeth Wein, bestselling author of Code Name Verity

“Illuminates the numbing terror of war and the healing power of music and love.”—Laura Ruby, Printz Award winner and National Book Award finalist for Bone Gap

Hers is the last face he’ll ever see.

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?