The Mushroom in the Sky

Jackie French

$17.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

HARPER360
02 July 2025

Children's & Educational; General fiction (Children's&YA); Adventure stories (Children's&YA); Historical fiction (Children's&YA); True stories (Children's&YA); Warfare, battles, armed forces (Children's&YA)

In the 80th anniversary year, Jackie French explores the dropping of the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, which ended World War 2.

1942

Japan has bombed

Sydney Harbour. Sixteen-year-old Ossie lies about his age to protect his

country, even though it means abandoning his only family, a one-eyed dog

named Lucky.

Kind-hearted Mrs

Plum is already looking after forty-six dogs belonging to soldiers who've

gone to war. She can't possibly care for another. But just when she's

becoming desperate to find a way to feed them, help arrives:

thirteen-year-old Kat Murphy volunteers to care for Lucky and persuades the girls

at school to help, too.

As Kat and Lucky

grow closer, Kat realises he can still see Ossie, the master he loves. And

somehow, Kat and Ossie catch glimpses into each other's lives, too. This

extraordinary connection helps Ossie survive when he is taken as a prisoner

of war to Japan. There, he witnesses a strange mushroom cloud rise above

Nagasaki - the result of a bomb that will take, save and change lives, and

forever leave the question: was it worth it?

Taken from

eyewitness Japanese accounts of that extraordinary but often misunderstood

time, this is a story of quiet heroism and endurance in the face of an

unimaginable horror that continues to resound to this day.

By: Jackie French
Imprint: HARPER360
Country of Publication: Australia
ISBN: 9781460766057
ISBN 10: 1460766059
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 02 July 2025
Recommended Age: From 12 years
Audience: Children/juvenile , English as a second language
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Jackie French AM is an award-winning writer, wombat negotiator, the 2014–2015 Australian Children's Laureate and the 2015 Senior Australian of the Year. In 2016, Jackie became a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to children's literature and her advocacy for youth literacy. She is regarded as one of Australia's most popular children's authors and writes across all genres — from picture books, history, fantasy, ecology and sci-fi, to her much-loved historical fiction for a variety of age groups. 'A book can change a child's life. A book can change the world' was the primary philosophy behind Jackie's two-year term as Laureate. jackiefrench.com facebook.com/authorjackiefrench