This book should win an award for its marriage of creative design, storytelling, and journalism. The first of a planned trilogy, this "docu-novel" capitalizes on Wiles' ability to evoke empathy for her characters while expertly weaving together a time-period collage of images and headlines that set a marked tone and mood for the storyline. Political events impact family and community, and strikingly familiar choices, decisions, debates, and outcomes resound between each. Absolutely masterful writing. Content appropriate for middle-grade readers. It's 1962, and it seems everyone is living in fear. Twelve-year-old Franny Chapman lives with her family in Washington, D.C., during the days surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis. For Franny, as for all Americans, it's going to be a formative year.