Sumi no Kanchan: Amerikajin shoujo no Hiroshima monogatari
| Author: | ファリダ・フツイ (Farida Fotouhi) | Original Title: | Charcoal Girl-Meeting the Ghost of the A-Bomb in 1954 Hiroshima | Place: | ロサンゼルス (Los Angeles) |
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| Publisher: | Reality2 | Year: | 2015 |
ファリダ・フツイ Farida Fotouhi. 炭のかんちゃん アメリカ人少女のヒロシマ物語 Sumi no Kanchan: Amerikajin shoujo no Hiroshima monogatari. Charcoal Girl-Meeting the Ghost of the A-Bomb in 1954 Hiroshima ロサンゼルス Los Angeles, Reality2, 2015.
The original version first was published in 1954. At age seven, Farida Fotouhi didn't know her graphic novel was a metaphor for the atomic bomb her country had dropped on Hiroshima. The year was 1954. Her father was the first U.S. diplomat assigned to Hiroshima after America had destroyed the city with the world s first atomic bomb. As the only American in her school and her neighborhood, creating graphic novels in her new second language was one way she processed her experiences, struggles and unanswerable questions. The first part of this book is her deeply affecting graphic novel, "Kan-chan the Little Charcoal Girl," in which she imagines what happens when a destructive force annihilates everything you know. With expressive drawings and vivid language, she takes her high-spirited characters on a journey of hardships met with resilience, humor and courage. In the second part of the book, written in 2014, the author creates a historical and personal context, revealing the story behind the story, with engaging reflections on her family's extraordinary life in 1950's Hiroshima. Together, the two parts of Charcoal Girl demonstrate how the human heart can bridge the chasms created by war, enmity and ethnic differences. It is a story that affirms the power of creativity and love, and poses questions about the atrocity of war, questions we re still dealing with today.