Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story, written by Marc Tyler Nobleman, reviewed by Klaudia Janek

Summary: This non-fiction picture book starts with a prologue about Pearl Harbor happening on December 7, 1941. Then the story starts on September 9, 1942, from the perspective of Nobuo Fujita as he was getting ready to drop two bombs on Oregon. He flew an airplane that was catapulted from a Japanese submarine. The idea was to drop a bomb that would cause a devastating fire that would spread to nearby towns. The bomb that detonated caused a small fire that was largely unnoticed. After the war, Fujita returned home to a Tokyo suburb. He never talked about what he did during the war and his family knew nothing of his missions. In 1962, Brookings Oregon was trying to increase its tourism industry. They asked Fujita to come visit as a symbol of reconciliation between individuals and between nations. Some people protested this but eventually accepted the visit. Nobuo Fujita was not sure how the visit would go, but he accepted responsibility for his actions during the war. His guilt was growing over his actions in the war. Fujita was welcomed to Brookings and friendships were created. People realized that our soldiers were doing their job and Fujita was doing his job for his country. Fujita donated thousands of dollars to the town library so that younger generations would read about other cultures and not repeat the mistakes that lead to World War II. A quote from Nobuo at the end of the story states “What a stupid war we made.”

Straight Talk for Librarians: If you go to read this story out loud to a class, practice first. It’s a bit of a tear-jerker and difficult to get through if you don’t practice ahead of time. This is a powerful tale of war and reconciliation told from the perspective of a Japanese soldier fighting the US during World War II. I think it will get students to realize that it was not just the US who suffered loss during the war, but it really affects all sides. I think the story also shows that war takes its mental toll on soldiers they have to deal with it for their rest of their lives. I think that Nobleman portrays Nobuo Fujita as a hero, even though he was our enemy during the war. He accepted responsibility for his actions and tried to make it right through apologizing and educating the younger generation so as not to repeat the mistakes of history -- this is what made him a hero. Fujita worked to promote peace in various ways. It’s a good message to share with all readers. We achieve more through peace than we do through fighting. If you are in an IB School, Fujita embodies many traits of the IB Learner Profile. This can lead to really good discussions in the history classroom. It might inspire some students to write their history internal assessment or extended essay on this lesser-known event from World War II. For older DP students this would be a good story to work into a Theory of Knowledge classroom. It’s a beautiful story that enhances the IB philosophy of global understanding. I also think that Melissa Iwai was the perfect choice to illustrate this book. Her watercolor drawings enhance the tone and emotions of this story. The colors she chose perfectly illustrate the pacific northwest and the peace during a sunrise - even during wartime. The expressions of the characters give so much depth to the text that readers will feel the same emotions. Overall, this book pays tribute to the importance of global understanding.