Gail Sakurai was born on February 9, 1952 in Detroit, Michigan. She is a 1979 graduate of Oakland University and has traveled widely. She gained a fascination and awareness about cultures through reading. Sakurai has studied French, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. She is a retired children's book writer, having authored 12 professionally published books. Several of her writings explore identity, biography, and outer space.

In 1994, "Nichelle Nichols: First Lady of Star Trek" by Gail Sakurai was published in Class, "America's Most Comprehensive Black Magazine." The article explored representation of women and people of color, and Nichols's involvements with NASA's recruitment efforts to diversify the space shuttle program.

Sakurai wrote the first professionally published children's book about Mae Jemison, the first Black woman astronaut. Published in 1995 by Children's Press, the book was entitled "Mae Jemison, Space Scientist," and opened with a dedication to her children to "follow your dreams." The book traces Jemison's early life and career formation and ends with a motto advanced by Mae Jemison: "Don't be limited by others' limited imaginations."

In 1996, Gail Sakurai's book "Stephen Hawking: Understanding the Universe" was published, with a dedication to her father, Peter R. Kwentus, an amateur astronomer and eclipse chaser. The book explores Hawking's contributions to physics, his diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and his use of adaptive technologies to write his bestselling book on science for the general public, "A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes."

Sakurai has since written a variety of children's history books, including books about Paul Revere and about the Library of Congress, as well as the children's books entitled "Asian-Americans and the Old West" and "Japanese American Internment Camps." This last book, while published in 2002, is still being referenced as a suggested school reading assignment, as recently as 2023 in Routledge's third edition of The Essentials of Middle and Secondary Social Studies.

Throughout her life and her writings, Gail Sakurai has demonstrated her passion for culture, history, and removing barriers and limitations to humanity. Her love of science, curiosity, and understanding space and the universe shine through. Sakurai's books have inspired multiple generations of children and remind us all that dreams are worth pursuing.

This Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Wall of Honor recognition is presented to her as a 71st birthday gift by her son Cameron Sakurai, and her adult child who also wrote this biography, Shige Sakurai.