Fallout - Hardcover

Strasser, Todd

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763655341 ISBN 13: 9780763655341

Publisher: Candlewick, 2013

Synopsis

What if the bomb had actually been dropped? What if your family was the only one with a shelter?

Exciting, harrowing ... This is a superb entertainment ...  It  thrums along with finely wrought atmosphere and gripping suspense... -- THE NEW YORK TIMES

A gripping and superbly constructed novel... There's not a word out of place in this evocative book. --- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

Strasser once again combines terrific suspense with thoughtful depth... This riveting examination of things important to a boy suddenly thrust into an adult catastrophe is un-put-down-able. --KIRKUS (starred review)

An eye-opening "what if" scenario about the human response to disaster. --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY  (starred review)

In the summer of 1962, the possibility of nuclear war is all anyone talks about. But Scott's dad is the only one in the neighborhood who actually prepares for the worst. As the neighbors scoff, he builds a bomb shelter to hold his family and stocks it with just enough supplies to keep the four of them alive for two critical weeks. In the middle of the night in late October, when the unthinkable happens, those same neighbors force their way into the shelter before Scott's dad can shut the door. With not enough room, not enough food, and not enough air, life inside the shelter is physically draining and emotionally fraught. But even worse is the question of what will -- and won't -- remain when the door is opened again. Internationally best-selling author Todd Strasser has written his most impressive and personal novel to date, ruthlessly yet sensitively exploring the terrifying what-ifs of one of the most explosive moments in human history.

About this title

About the Author

Todd Strasser is the author of more than 140 novels for children and teens, most notably The Wave, which is taught in classrooms around the world. He lives in New York.

Reviews

Gr 5-8–“Dad had a gun. Mom was letting us eat in the den. Could there be any clearer signs that the end of the world was approaching?” During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Scott's father builds a bomb shelter in their backyard. Most of the neighbors ridicule the idea, but the day the bombs do go off, those same neighbors try desperately to get into the shelter. A few of them do get in, along with Scott's family, while the rest perish outside. The extra people, along with the lack of supplies, make for cramped, uncomfortable conditions, and tempers flare. They might be safe now, but what awaits them if they ever leave? The chapters alternate between the current conditions in the shelter and the months leading up to the bombs dropping. Before, Scott lives a normal sixth-grader's life, but in the back of everyone's minds are the worries about the Russians and their nuclear missiles. Scott's friend Ronny challenges him to some neighborhood mischief, justifying it with, “We might not be here tomorrow.” Eventually Scott and Ronny have a knock-down fight, stopping only when Scott's father pulls them apart. At the end of the story, the shelter's inhabitants leave to find what's left of their world. The alternating chapters might be confusing at first, but it doesn't take long to get into the rhythm. Enough background about the time period is woven into the story so children unfamiliar with the Cuban Missile Crisis will have a basic knowledge of what happened. A well-written, compelling story with an interesting twist on how history might have turned out.–Diana Pierce, formerly at Leander High School, TXα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Inspired by the summer of 1962 when his family built a bomb shelter, Strasser’s alternate-history novel about the Cuban missile crisis is a suspenseful, quietly emotional account of the unthinkable: nuclear war. Eleven-year-old Scott is the only kid on the block with a bomb shelter. Though the neighborhood kids tease, while their parents act disdainful, when the sirens sound, they mob the shelter and force their way in. After a furious struggle, during which Scott’s mother is seriously injured, the shelter is sealed with 10 people inside, 6 more than planned for and with many more left outside. As time passes and the supplies dwindle, grief, guilt, and fear turn the relationships among the adults ugly, even sparking talks of who should be put out. Strasser nicely contrasts this oppressive life, where Scott becomes aware of adult conflicts, with his innocence during the weeks leading up to the bomb. The titular fallout isn’t just the environmental aftermath of the nuclear bomb but the survivors’ emotional devastation, believably filtered through Scott’s sensitive but well-rendered child’s perspective. Grades 5-8. --Krista Hutley

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0763655341
• ISBN 13: 9780763655341
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272