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Summary
Summary
Arkansas, 1984: The town of Griffin Flat is known for almost nothing other than its nuclear missile silos. MAD - Mutually Assured Destruction - is a fear every local lives with and tries to ignore. Unfortunately that's impossible now that film moguls have picked Griffin Flat as the location for a new nuclear holocaust movie, aptly titled The Eve of Destruction. When sixteen-year-old Laura Ratliff wins a walk-on role (with a plus-one!) thanks to a radio call-in contest, she is more relieved than excited. Mingling with Hollywood stars on the set of a phony nuclear war is a perfect distraction from being the only child in her real nuclear family-which has also been annihilated. Her parents are divorced. Her mother has recently married one of the only African-American men in town. Her father, an officer in the Strategic Air Command, is absent'except when he phones at odd hours to hint at an impending catastrophe. But isn't that his job? Laura's only real friend is her new stepbrother, Ter
Author Notes
Amy Brashear has deep ties to the state of Arkansas. She grew up with family near Damascus: home of the infamous 1980 "Damascus Incident," where an accidental explosion in a Titan II silo almost triggered a nuclear war. Inspired by this real event, The Incredible True Story of the Making of the Eve of Destruction is her second novel. Her first novel, No Saints in Kansas , is a YA fictional reimagining of In Cold Blood .
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 UP-Sixteen-year-old Laura is thrilled to have a walk-on role in the nuclear disaster film about to be shot in her small town of Griffin Flat, AR, home to numerous nuclear missile silos. It's 1984, and Laura is still reeling from her parent's scandalous divorce as she tries to adjust to having a new stepfamily. Laura invites her stepbrother Terrence to join her on set, and the two meet a colorful collection of characters. The day ends with the filming of a nuclear blast-but is the blast scripted or real? Narrator Amielyn Abellera reads in a slow, clear, and deliberate manner. Laura's youthful voice has a perfect touch of a southern accent, and Terrence is also done in a realistic manner. Abellera is less successful with the secondary characters. Laura's mom has an annoying falsetto, and Laura's best male friend, Max, sounds like an elderly grandmother. Some of the book's endearing wackiness is lost in the audio version. The frequent footnotes, which humorously explain the 1980s pop culture references, are jarring and interrupt the flow of the story. Various documents included in the book are read aloud word-for-word-from the FEMA declarations to the accident waiver and release of liability form from the film company-which further hinder the story's progression. VERDICT This audio might be a good choice for those teens who enjoy over-the-top recordings, but most students will enjoy the print book more.-Julie Paladino, formerly with East Chapel Hill High School, NC © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In 1984, the only interesting thing about Griffin Flat, Ark., is that it's surrounded by nuclear missile silos. But when it's picked as the filming location for the adaptation of Boudreaux Beauchamp's novella "Eve of Destruction," everyone is excited-even Laura Ratliff. Laura, 16, is still reeling from her parents' divorce due to her mother's scandalous affair with (and subsequent marriage to) Dennis Jennings, the only African-American man in town. Obsessed with the possibility of a nuclear war, Laura wins a radio call-in contest for a walk-on role in the film, but things quickly escalate for everyone when what is supposed to be a scripted nuclear explosion may or may not have been the real thing. Brashear (No Saints in Kansas) sprinkles the novel with information about the '80s, offering a nuanced sense of the time and what it felt like to grow up under nuclear threat. Footnotes for popular culture references, such as Columbia House ("It's a mail order music club") give the well-paced novel some levity while providing important background information. In this moment where what constitutes fact is up for debate, Brashear's seemingly nostalgic romp is extremely timely. Ages 14-up. Agent: John Cusick, Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
In 1984, the small town of Griffin Flat, Arkansas, is known only for its nuclear missile silos--making it the perfect location to shoot a movie about nuclear annihilation. Sixteen-year-old Laura Ratliff wins a radio contest for a walk-on role and gets thrust into the surreal experience of making a movie about something she has grown up fearing. Funny, fresh, and totally unique. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Truth and fiction blur after Laura Ratliff wins a walk-on role in a Hollywood nuclear disaster film set in her small town.Living on the nukemapone of the top Soviet nuclear targets in the U.S.leaves Laura more than a little bit anxious. It's 1984, her junior year of high school, and the threat of "Mutually Assured Destruction" is on everyone's mind. To make matters worse, Laura's mother (who is white like Laura) had an affair with and later married a black man. The scandal was the talk of Griffin Flat, Arkansas, population 8,000, but one good thing that came out of it was her stepbrother, Terrence. Since the divorce, Laura rarely sees her father, a member of a special Air Force squadron responsible for intercontinental ballistic missile sites. Things seem to be looking up after Laura wins a local radio contest and a small part in Eve of Destruction, bringing Terrence along as her invited guest. Then Laura's father begins making strange phone calls. This tragicomic story of Laura and her motley crew is a page-turner from start to finish. Laura's penchant for pop culture, history, and science trivia, presented in explanatory footnotes throughout, brings the late Cold War-era to life. A clever, superbly written, laugh-out-loud-hilarious story within a story and movie within a movie about nuclear war anxiety in small-town America.You might not learn to love the bomb, but you will love this book. (Fiction. 14-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In 1984, Griffin Flat, Arkansas, is best known for its proximity to nuclear-war silos, and, if there's one thing 16-year-old Laura Ratliff is troubled by, it's the chance of nuclear war. It's bad enough that her nuclear family's been in upheaval ever since her mother cheated on her dad and broke up the family. A nuclear-holocaust movie, The Eve of Destruction, is being filmed in Griffin Flat, and Laura wins a walk-on role, but what transpires during the filming hits closer to Laura's fears than she could ever have imagined. Selections from the movie screenplay, newspaper articles, and other ephemera enhance the reading experience, though the footnotes explain more 1980s references than necessary and could have been omitted. Laura's fears may resonate with readers today, who are unfortunately forced to worry still about nuclear war under this unpredictable administration. Brashear's sophomore novel will appeal most to fans of disaster fiction and 1980s nostalgia projects like Stranger Things.--Jennifer Barnes Copyright 2019 Booklist