Cold War on Maplewood Street

May 25, 2015
Drawing from her own childhood memories, Rosengren (What the Moon Said) writes a quietly tense story set during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Joanna’s father abandoned her family when she was four, and her older brother, Sam, promised never to leave her. But he joined the navy right out of high school with the aim of seeing the world before going to college on the GI Bill. Joanna is furious, sad, and—lately—fearful, and she stubbornly ignores the letters Sam sends. With her mother busy working and taking night classes, Joanna is left alone in their basement apartment, which is bad for her wild imagination. Joanna’s frustrations and worries include potential burglars, a “strange” elderly neighbor, Sam’s fate overseas, and her mother’s refusal to let her attend her first “boy–girl party,” but she learns how to muster courage during a time of accelerated, unwanted change. Rosengren’s judicious use of details evokes a strong sense of the 1960s, and while some readers will already be aware of how history played out, they’ll find it easy to share Joanna’s feelings of nervousness, helplessness, and hope. Ages 8–12.

May 1, 2015
The Cuban missile crisis disrupts a Chicago girl's life. Since the departure of her big brother, Sam, for the Navy, sixth-grader Joanna frightens easily. Without Sam, she's home alone often while her mom attends night school after work, and since the noises and people around their basement apartment scare her, she usually turns on the television for company. News of Russian missiles being sent to Cuba to be aimed at the United States and the imminent threat of nuclear war cause her to re-evaluate her feelings, especially the resentment she's been fostering toward her brother for leaving her behind. Despite her use of first-person narration, Rosengren never gets readers fully inside Joanna's character; her anger against her brother seems overblown, while other dramatic episodes, especially when her best friend's mother runs off to France, are underdeveloped. In general, Rosengren tells rather than shows emotions. The Cold War itself is a deus ex machina that Joanna can't affect, and the 1960s are evoked primarily via mention of television shows and songs. A pleasant-enough story about a moment in history rarely captured in literature, this book doesn't rise above the ordinary. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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June 1, 2015

Gr 4-6-Joanna, a sixth grader, is a normal girl living an ordinary life with the usual tween concerns in 1962. Her overblown, fear-filled imagination causes her to think that a new elderly neighbor is a witch with evil intentions. She imagines that a loud noise means a burglar might be breaking into her apartment. Played against her active imagination is the very real threat of nuclear war. She's concerned for her older brother who is in the Navy and whose ship might be part of the U.S. blockade of Cuba. Unfortunately, Joanna's personal story isn't enriched by larger context or details about the Cuban missile crisis. Her constant fearful responses to radio and newspaper reports, while understandable, will not translate to readers unfamiliar with the historic events. VERDICT An additional purchase, best used after reading a nonfiction account of the Cuban missile crisis.-Lillian Hecker, Town of Pelham Public Library, NY

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2015
Grades 4-6 Joanna, a latchkey kid whose father left when she was four, now feels abandoned by her beloved brother Sam, who joined the navy four months earlier. Hurt and sulking, she refuses to answer his letters. Meanwhile, she deals with her anxiety about burglars, hangs out with her best friend, and bickers with her mother about wearing makeup and attending boy-girl parties. But when the Cold War heats up during the week of the Cuban missile crisis, Joanna worries about her brother's safety as well as her own. As true to the period as the many references to 1960s songs and TV shows, the intensifying fear of nuclear war affects adults as well as Joanna and her friends during the seven-day span of the novel. In an author's note, Rosengren relates that her experiences as a 12-year-old during the Cuban missile crisis inspired the book. This accessible novel portrays a young character living through a national crisis that precipitates personal growth.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)