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Cold War on Maplewood Street - Gayle Rosengren - 10/24/2015 - 3:00pm

Cold War on Maplewood Street

Children's Room

Cold War on Maplewood Street is a novel for ages 8-12 set against the backdrop of a little known time in our past, the week-long Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.  The main character, 12 year old Joanna, is going through a difficult adjustment even before the crisis begins.  Her adored brother Sam recently joined the Navy and is far away on a ship somewhere in the Atlantic.  With Mom working and going to night school, Joanna is alone in their basement apartment far more than she's comfortable with. She feels abandoned and vulnerable in ways she's never felt before. Then President Kennedy comes on TV with frightening news about Soviet missiles in Cuba and how the U.S. is not going to tolerate this threat to its security.  He demands the Soviets remove the weapons at once and says battleships are already steaming toward Cuba to make sure that they do.  This means Sam is in danger!  But so is everyone.  Because if a war breaks out, no one will be safe.  Joanna is frightened.  So are the adults around her and in countries around the world.  The tense timeline of the Cuban Missile Crisis unfolds alongside a powerful and ultimately hopeful story about what it means to grow up in a world full of uncertainty.

Gayle Rosengren

Gayle Rosengren

Gayle grew up in Chicago and earned a BA in creative writing at Knox College.  As a girl, books were among her best friends and inspired her dream of writing for children someday.  Following graduation, she worked as an advertising copy writer.  She never outgrew her passion for children's books, however, and when the opportunity presented itself, she joined the staff of the children's and young adult services departments of  her local library in Illinois. She worked there for several years enthusiastically sharing her love of books with young people while raising three young people of her own.  Today Gayle lives just outside of Madison, Wisconsin with her husband Don and their slightly neurotic rescue dog, Fiona.  She is thrilled that her childhood wish has come true and she writes full time now, in her own words, "living the dream."

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Cold War on Maplewood Street