![\"Countdown\"](\"https:\/\/staffpicks.eglibrary.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Countdown.jpg\")
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In October of 1962, my mom and dad were 7 and 13, respectively. \u00a0They’ve told me stories of the old “duck and cover” drills they had to do in school and how frightened they were about the potential onset of a nuclear war, but I don’t think I truly appreciated what they went through until I listened to this audiobook. \u00a0Experiencing the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis vicariously through a character in a book, even knowing how the entire thing ended, was enough to make me anxious. \u00a0I can’t imagine I would have fared well if I actually had to live it. \u00a0(I probably would have had panic attacks all day, every day!) \u00a0Such is the power of this extremely well-written book and it’s wonderfully produced audiobook. \u00a0I was curious how the scrapbook pages would translate in an audiobook, and I was very pleased with the way sound bites were interjected into the story and sometimes woven together.\u00a0 (It actually reminded me quite a bit of the commercials in MT Anderson’s Feed<\/a><\/em>.)<\/p>\n More striking than the anxiety this story induced, nevertheless, was the hope that it inspired.\u00a0 One quote, in particular, made such an impression that I pulled over during my evening commute to write\u00a0it down. \u00a0(Because my OCD self was concerned about accuracy, nevertheless, I found a print copy of the book.)<\/p>\n “There are always scary things happening in the world. Though Franny’s sister, Jo Ellen, was responding to Franny’s fear over the Cuban Missile Crisis, her words can truly be applied to any person’s response to any terrible situation.\u00a0 And, especially since this book goes beyond the facts of the Cuban Missile Crisis to explore Franny’s relationships with her family and friends, I think this book has a much broader appeal than just fans of historical fiction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In October of 1962, my mom and dad were 7 and 13, respectively. \u00a0They’ve told me stories of the old “duck and cover” drills they had to do in school and how frightened they were about the potential onset of a nuclear war, but I don’t think I truly appreciated what they went through until … Continue reading Countdown by Deborah Wiles<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-books-for-children","category-fiction","category-reviewed-by-chrissie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffpicks.eglibrary.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffpicks.eglibrary.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffpicks.eglibrary.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffpicks.eglibrary.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffpicks.eglibrary.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staffpicks.eglibrary.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2935\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffpicks.eglibrary.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffpicks.eglibrary.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffpicks.eglibrary.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThere are always wonderful things happening.
\nAnd it’s up to you to decide how you’re going
\nto approach the world…
\nhow you’re going to live in it, and
\nwhat you’re going to do<\/em>.”<\/p>\n