Countdown / Deborah Wiles / 377 pages / Notable Children's Book - Older Grades

Thank goodness I chose to listen to this book on audio rather than read the print version.  Excellent narration of a fifth grade girl's daily life in 1962 is interspersed with public service announcements, advertising, news clips, and songs from the era.  Narration segued into recordings that sounded like actual sound bites from the day.  Great historical treatment of the political uncertainty of the times, especially the Cuban Missile Crisis and its effect on the individuals, families, the nation, and the world.  Themes stress friendship, first attraction, family differences, commitment to ideals, and national pride.