A Surprising Part of American History

We read Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot's World War II Story by Mac Tyler Nobleman, illustrated by Melissa Iwai.

It's a historical biography about the life of Nubo Fujita, a World War II Japanese fighter pilot.

This book is good for ages 8-9 and above. Older people will like it as much as we did (our Grandma gave it 5 stars!).

Character Traits: This book demonstrates kindness, respect, forgiveness and reconciliation (between the US and Japan, and between people)

What surprised us most about the book is that first he bombs the US, and then he's welcomed back as a friend. Wait, what? The US got bombed? We never heard about that in school. But it did really happen.

We gave it four stars. Why? It's interesting, unpredictable and sometimes confusing. It's a fantastic book because the watercolor pictures are artistically drawn.

Here are some questions that got us thinking:

• Did the US really get bombed during World War II? Why doesn't everyone know about it?
• Who is Nubuo Fujita?
•  Why is the 400-year-old Samurai sword important?