I absolutely hated reading this book. It was so painful to read because it brought us close to the Gen's family, all while knowing of the holocaust awaiting them by the end of the book. And then, when the worst of it arises, it was so much more distressing to read and see illustrated than I could have expected.

I found a copy of the ebook and read it that way, I don't intend to reread it, but I do know that the horrific images from this book will stick with me forever, anytime my mind is drawn towards thoughts of WWII. I would never have read this if it were not for the 2024 Read Harder challenge, pushing me out of my comfort zone to read this genre for the first time. I don't know if I'd read it if I had a chance to go back in time and pick to read a different book.

The book's final page reads, "In the hope that humanity will never repeat the terrible tragedy of the atomic bombing, the volunteers of Project Gen want children and adults all over the world to hear Gen's story. Through translations like this one, we want to help Gen speak to people in different countries in their own languages. Our prayer is that Barefoot Gen will contribute in some small way to the abolition of nuclear weapons before this new century is over."

I did not like this book, but I can respect it for what it is and what it stands for. It shows the effects nuclear weapons have on humanity, and it shows that to teach others how horrific it is. I just didn't expect to feel so distraught by this book. In that way, it's somewhere between a 1-star book because of how strongly I disliked reading it and a 4.5-star book because of how effectively it achieves its goal. Thus, I picked a rating right in the middle.