Wiles, Deborah (2010). Countdown. NY: Scholastic. 400 pp. ISBN 978-0-545-10605-4 (Hardcover) $17.99.
Wiles has created a book that I have not read before. While I am reviewing this book from a manuscript copy, I can still promise readers that this book breaks new ground. On the manuscript cover we see that Scholastic has classified this book as 'Historical Fiction.' However, this book is more than that, although I am not quite sure what to call it--Historical Collage Fiction? My friend, Walter Mayes (AKA Walter the Giant Storyteller) mentioned that Wiles breaks the same kind of ground with Countdown that Selznick broke with Hugo Cabret! This is more true than not.
The basic annotation of the book is that 11-year-old Franny is trying to survive the inevitable nuclear disaster that is heading toward her home near Andrews Air Force Base. We are in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The U.S. has just discovered bombs on Cuba pointing toward our country. Franny is practicing (and getting bloodied) during duck and cover drills. Meanwhile she is trying to convince her teacher that she exists (despite being invisible). She is trying to convince her family that she is more than a Cinderella servant. Her mother only seems to assign chores and, worse yet, blame. Her older sister treats her like a squirt and will not share the life-changing world she is entering in college. Her Uncle Otts is becoming crazier each day and embarrassing Franny, even while she tries to hold onto the vision of her Uncle as a WWI war hero. And now Franny is fighting with her best friend Margie over friends and boys and stolen letters. Catastrophe is in the air and duck and cover drills are not making Franny feel the least bit safer. Just what is her sister hiding from her under lock and key? Will Franny ever grow up? What is wrong with Uncle Otts? Will a nice boy like Chris Cavas ever choose a plain looking girl like her when her best friend Margie is prettier, more self-assured, and unburdened by a crazy family member?
The notable feature of COUNTDOWN is its inserted pictures of JFK, Khrushchev, Pete Seeger, Sandy Kofax, Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, images of the civil rights movement, Cuba, Nancy Drew, and more. While many of the images have no direct bearing on the plot, they provide the emotional backdrop of the novel and place the story firmly in its historical period. In addition to providing thousands of teachers with a book that will become classroom reading, Wiles asks students to think about their own history in terms of music, media, literature, popular culture. These added images and the inserted mini biographies of Trueman, Seeger, and JFK provide snapshots of what students like Franny would be experiencing on a daily basis during the Cuban Missile time frame. They give this book a soul that most historical fiction does not possess. They also, I believe, take that step of making historical fiction intersect with today's student and make the time period seem important in today's world. Historical fiction is not among the more popular reading material for teens and I think Wiles has figured out a way to change that perception! Well done!
The degree of difficulty in this book is what takes COUNTDOWN and elevates it to a new level. I really believe that Wiles has created a new way of experiencing history in the pages of a novel. Her achievement makes this book a must buy for school libraries all across the country regardless of age. This is also a book that will resonate with folks like me who can still remember the duck and cover drills (which provided a moment of welcome respite from the drudgery of the school day).
