The Girl with the White Flag

by Tomiko Higa, Dorothy Britton

Overview

New York Newsday called this memoir of a warhood childhood in Japan "one of the saddest and yet most uplifting books about childhood you will ever encounter."


Separated from her family in the confusion and horror of World War II, seven-year-old Tomiko Higa struggles to survive on the battlefield of Okinawa, Japan. There, as some of the fiercest fighting of the war rages around her, she must live alone, with nothing to fall back on but her own wits and daring. Fleeing from encroaching enemy forces, searching desperately for her lost sisters, taking scraps of food from the knapsacks of dead soldiers, risking death at every turn, Tomiko somehow finds the strength and courage to survive.


Many years later she decided to tell this story. Originally intended for juvenile readers, it is sure to move adults as well, because it is such a vivid portrait of the unintended civilian casualties of any war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781568365312
Publisher:	Kodansha USA
Publication date:	08/02/2013
Pages:	132
Sales rank:	495,047
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Born in Okinawa, TOMIKO HIGA worked for twenty-seven years at the Okinawa branch of the American Express Company while completing her high school and undergraduate education. She graduated in law from the University of Okinawa in 1991. In 1984, when film footage of a little girl carrying a white flag drew public attention, Higa finally decided to come forward. Her gripping narrative achieved popular and critical acclaim in her native country, and the now-famous photo of the author has become a symbol calling for world peace.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	7
	The Peaceful Island of Okinawa	13
	My Home	13
	My Father	21
	Fun-Loving Nini	32
	The Kind and Gentle Soldier	36
	Joining the Refugees	40
	Waiting for Father	40
	A Glimpse of Hell	43
	Parting with Nini	48
	Fleeing Alone	52
	My Animal Friends	58
	The Ants	58
	The Rat's Gift	61
	Nini the Rabbit	63
	Nini Saves My Life	67
	From Cave to Cave	69
	"If You Want to Escape, Now's the Time!"	69
	The Chase	72
	Saved by a Fluke	74
	A River of Death	76
	A Fateful Meeting	80
	The Cave	80
	Peace Among the Three of Us	88
	Scenes from Hell	92
	The Preciousness of Life	95
	Fulfilling My Duty	100
	The Hurried Parting	100
	An Emblem of Safety	107
	The Reunion	113
	Searching for the Photographer	119

Editorial Reviews

"One of the saddest yet most uplifting books about childhood you will ever encounter. ... A powerful document as well as a completely engrossing adventure." -Newsday

"[A] moving memoir... All will be touched by Higa's tenacity under impossible circumstances and will be reminded that children continue to be the worst victims of war." -School Library Journal

". .. her unaffected memoir serves as a reminder that in any war, 'noncombatants' suffer grievously." -Los Angeles Times Book Review

"A gripping story." -Mainichi Daily News

"A testimony to the resilience of the human spirit. [It] is a short book that you will not be able to put down once you start to read it." -City life News

"...an original, candid, and attention gripping autobiographical narrative which is superbly written and enthusiastically recommended..." -Bookwatch

From the Publisher

an original, candid, and attention gripping autobiographical narrative which is superbly written and enthusiastically recommended

BookWatch