I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Joanna can’t get over how her brother broke his promise to never leave like their dad did. Sam is thousands of miles away on a navy ship, and no matter how often he sends letters, Joanna refuses to write back. When she makes a promise, she keeps it.

But then President Kennedy comes on TV with frightening news about Soviet missiles in Cuba—and that’s where Sam’s heading. Suddenly Joanna’s worries about being home alone, building up the courage to talk to a cute boy, and not being allowed to go to the first boy-girl party in her grade don’t seem so important. Maybe sometimes there are good reasons to break a promise.

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.

Short and Sweet Review

This book is short so why not write a short and sweet review? I liked this book but it wasn’t what I thought it would be, and when I say that I mean it was more of a middle-grade book then a young adult book. Other then that I really enjoyed this book. Joanna’s brother is in the navy and Joanna feels that he broke his promise to her about not leaving her so she promised not to talk to him. As tensions with the Cuban missile crisis rise Joanna starts to worry about her brother. Joanna was a good main character she was a regular girl she went to school worried about her family and a co-ed party. I love reading historical fiction, because it gives you a feel for how things were during that time. I love how this book ended and how kind Joanna is and how she thinks of things to try to make other people comfortable during this time as well as herself. I would recommend this book, after I got over the fact that it wasn’t a young adult book I read it in a few days.