Countdown

⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 

Deborah Wiles

YA Fiction, Historical Fiction

394 pages

Published May 10, 2010 by Scholastic Press

Franny Chapman just wants some peace. But that's hard to get when her best friend is feuding with her, her sister has disappeared, and her uncle is fighting an old war in his head. Her saintly younger brother is no help, and the cute boy across the street only complicates things. Worst of all, everyone is walking around just waiting for a bomb to fall.

It's 1962, and it seems that the whole country is living in fear. When President Kennedy goes on television to say that Russia is sending nuclear missiles to Cuba, it only gets worse. Franny doesn't know how to deal with what's going on in the world -- no more than she knows how to deal with what's going on with her family and friends. But somehow she's got to make it through.

Featuring a captivating story interspersed with footage from 1962, award-winning author Deborah Wiles has created a documentary novel that will put you right alongside Franny as she navigates a dangerous time in both her history and our history. 

My Thoughts:

This was another book that caught my eye as I was shelving books in my library. Countdown is set in 1962 and it was like entering another world for me. I wasn’t born until the late 1970’s and was 11 (same age as the main character) when the Berlin Wall came down so I don’t remember Russia (then the USSR) being an overwhelmingly looming threat. Wiles does a great job creating Franny’s world and the pages of propaganda and ads from that time period is a wonderful addition. It really cements the feel and climate of the 1960’s in the reader's mind. Smoking, bomb shelters, duck and cover drills, race issues, women’s issues, etc were a daily part of the 1960’s.  While Franny and her family are worrying about Russia, Cuba, you also see that life goes on. Friend drama, family issues, etc. You see Franny grow up a bit through the book.  The only drawback to the book is you never find out what Jo Ellen’s secret is. It’s alluded to, and adults reading will have a pretty good idea, but I’m not sure the target audience of the book will figure it out and they will be left hanging. This is the first book of The Sixties Trilogy and I’m looking forward to reading the other two. 

The Geography of Lost Things

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jessica Brody

Young Adult, Young Adult Romance

458 pages

Published October 2, 2018 by Simon Pulse

After Ali’s father passes away, he leaves his one and only prized possession—a 1968 Firebird convertible—to his daughter. But Ali doesn’t plan on keeping it. Not when it reminds her too much of all her father’s unfulfilled promises. So when she finds a buyer three hundred miles up the Pacific coast willing to pay enough money for the car to save her childhood home, Ali can’t wait to get going. Except Ali has no idea how to drive a stick shift. But guess who does?

Ali’s ex-boyfriend, Nico. And Nico has other plans.

He persuades Ali that instead of selling the car, they should “trade up” the items they collect on their trip to eventually reach the monetary amount Ali needs. Agreeing with Nico’s crazy plan, Ali sets off on a unique adventure that is unlike anything she ever could have expected.

And it’s through Ali’s travels, through the strangers she meets and the things that they value—and why they value them—that Ali eventually comes to understand her father and how his life may not have been as easy and carefree as she previously thought. Because just like the seemingly insignificant objects Ali collects, not everything is exactly as it appears.

My Thoughts:

Oh this was a good one!! It’s not newly published, but it was new to our middle school library. The cover is beautiful, caught my eye and made me want to pick it up. Don't be scared off by the page count. I read this in hardcover and the font size was pretty big. 

I started it while eating breakfast and stayed up late the same day to finish it. When I first started to read I had my doubts. Sometimes I can’t get the adult (and mom) in me to be quiet and when Ali talks about her scholarship I had one of those moments. I wasn’t sure if my inner teenager would be able to surface and connect with her and her story. But I kept going and I was so glad I did. I got lost in her story, her relationship with Nico, her father, and the journey they go on. 

This is age appropriate and I will be recommending it to others. In fact, I've already recommended it to 2 students. 

We have 7 other books written by Jessica Brody in our collection and I definitely am interested in reading more from her.