Rating: 3 stars
Cover synopsis: It's 1962 and it seems everyone is living in fear. 12-year-old Franny lives near Washington, D.C. during the Cuban Missile Crisis. For Franny and all Americans, it will be a formative year.
I enjoy historical fiction, so I thought I'd give this young-adult novel a go. It was OK. Not as spectacular as I was expecting. The story about Franny is fairly dull -- a lot of "my best friend's mad at me!" "The new kid is so cute!" "Mom's going to kill me if I don't do my chores!" Oh, and "we have bomb drills."
The layout of the book was a bit different...but gimmicky. It included a lot of pictures, advertisements, and song lyrics from 1962. While some of it was interesting, I thought the author overdid it. She'd make her point, drive it home, and overkill it. Then overkill it MORE.
Still, it was an educational experience for me. I didn't know much about the Cuban Missile Crisis, and to see from the eyes of a 12 year old girl was a fine idea. This would be a great book for kids ages 11+. But I wish Franny had more going on in her head to keep it interesting for us grown-ups who didn't grow up in the 60s.
