Abstract
Reviewed by: Fallout Elizabeth Bush Krisher, Trudy Fallout. Holiday House, 2006315p ISBN 0-8234-2035-3$17.95 Ad Gr. 5-8 Gen Hardcastle's father is obsessed with tracking hurricanes and protecting his family from the Red Menace; her mother is obsessed with her Tupperware business and her work with the neighborhood Welcome Wagon; and Gen, well, Gen's just happiest writing a bit of poetry, keeping her head above water freshman year in high school, tuning out her bickering parents, and avoiding friendships. The arrival of new schoolmate Brenda Wompers and her parents to Gen's conservative North Carolina community is a shocker—the Wompers are dyed-in-the-wool atheists, outspoken critics of the school curriculum, disbelievers in the promise of a bright atomic future, and tacky dressers to boot. They've bought a well-established souvenir business and converted it to a rag-tag venture, replacing key rings and candy with secondhand clothing and local history books, and drawing Gen into their circle of three. Gen thrives on the attention of these adults who invite her to express opinions, and she's giddy with the prospect of a true friendship, yet she resists accepting their radical agenda wholesale and wishes they would be as tolerant of her religious beliefs as she is expected to be of their atheism. In the end, the issue won't be resolved by Gen but by a combination of business failure and community pressure that drive the Wompers on to other pastures. Although Krisher forms a skeletal plot around Gen and Brenda's status as losers at school and Mr. Hardcastle's growing mania in building a fallout shelter, most of the novel is devoted to establishing polarized points of view through strained conversations: "In the event of a disaster, we're protected by all the new interstate highways that can help us speed safely out of town"; "Ultraviolet rays are bad for your skin. I'm afraid public opinion has yet to catch up with science." For really intriguing Cold [End Page 298] War–era fiction, consider David Almond's The Fire Eaters (BCCB 5/04), but this might entertain readers who enjoy tales of kids bucking the system. Copyright © 2007 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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