Countdown by Deborah Wiles

{image courtesy of goodreads.com & google image search}


Got this gem at the scholastic book sale for $2.50 (HARDCOVER!). I had heard from a 5th grader that it was a REALLY awesome book. The comment that she made was, "It's the format that's the coolest part." 

{Yep, a 5th grader said that!}

And the format is one of the coolest parts! 

This book is like none other that I've ever read. Not only because it's a realistic historical fiction piece, but because it talks about the Cuban missile crisis, and that's something that I, myself... don't know much about. I've heard my parents talk about duck and cover drills, but really I never understood (before reading this book), how often the occurred, and how impossibly scared the kids of this day and age were.

We meet Franny (the main character), and through her eyes, we see her complex family (she's a military brat, with her father in the military, an uncle who is suffering from PTSD from his own military experience, a mother who is the quintessential housewife, a (much older), older sister who is trying to fight for change on the side of racial relations while attending university, and a younger brother who is beyond obsessed with Burt the turtle, and becoming an astronaut someday. 

Franny has a hard road ahead of her...she's trying desperately to fit in at school, and dealing with the challenges of the day and age she's growing up in, while just growing up...is difficult for her. Ms. Wiles takes us on an amazing journey of her trying to figure out her life.

Again, one of the most endearing qualities of this book is it's format. Ms. Wiles uses many non-fiction elements while she tells Franny's story (using excerpts from speeches, advertisements, etc), which all fit in nicely with the text before and after it. I loved that portion of the book, because it so seamlessly makes the book tie into non-fiction, and you don't have to go searching everywhere for your answers to "what is she talking about here?" and "who is that person again, and why are they important?"

As far as teachability is concerned, there are so many directions that this book could take you. You could obviously tie it nicely into social studies, and a non-fiction project on what it was like to grow up during the early 60's, you could absolutely interview someone who was alive back then, and ask them what they knew, and you could also make some personal connections to how Franny's life is similar to their own, growing up in a post 9/11 world.

I very much enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to teachers, parents, and the like.

Where can I buy this?: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Countdown-1st-first-Wiles-Deborah/dp/B00BTM0TSQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398117782&sr=1-2&keywords=countdown+by+deborah+wiles

Barnes and Nobel: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/countdown-deborah-wiles/1100162030?ean=9780545106054

What I think of it: 4.5/5 

Who would like to read it: Kiddos, teachers, parents...or anyone who lived in the sixties.

AND--- it's part of a trilogy!! That's one of the most endearing qualities about it-- That it sucked me in, and makes me want to read the rest of them!