In a Flash

A riveting and dramatic story of two devoted sisters, Italian citizens, who must survive in WWII Japan.

In 1940, when Simona is eight and her sister, Carolina, is five, their father becomes the cook to the Italian ambassador to Japan, and the family leaves Italy for Tokyo. The girls learn perfect Japanese, make friends, and begin to love life in their new home. But soon Japan is engaged in a world war. In 1943, when all Italians in Japan are confined to internment camps as enemy aliens, Papà and the girls are forced to part, and Simona and Carolina embark on a dramatic journey. Anyone who aids them could be arrested for treason. All the sisters have is each other: their wits, courage, and resilience, and the hope that they will find people who see them not as the enemy, but simply as children trying to survive.

In this gripping, deeply moving story, Donna Jo Napoli gives readers an unforgettable and authentic new perspective on World War II.

Donna Jo Napoli has published 18 picture books and early readers, a series of 16 chapter books for early elementary school students, 26 middle-grade novels, and 24 young-adult novels. Her work has been translated into 19 languages and has won many awards at the state and national level. She is a professor of linguistics and social justice at Swarthmore College, so she brings her research skills and her profound interest in language to bear on her novels, particularly the historical ones. She lives with her husband in Swarthmore, PA.