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hollyxbear's review against another edition
5.0
This was such an interesting book! I really wish I could see what happened on the outside of the bunker a little bit more. Also, why was everyone going home like nothing happened?
alicebme's review against another edition
4.0
I read a lot of messed up YA about nuclear holocaust and post apocalyptic horrors, so I thought this would be a diet version. Easy to swallow. Nope. It's too real. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish last night so I wouldn't have to read it again today. I am trying find a reaction between researching nuclear survivalist sites obsessively and laying on the floor moaning. I think humming "No Day But Today" and hugging my family a lot should do it.
fertilepress's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
megangraff's review against another edition
3.0
I read this book in a couple of hours this morning. Since I finished it I have been reading reviews both on GoodReads and other places trying to decide if I should add it to our primary library collection. I'm not put off by the horror of the alternate ending to the Cuban missile crisis depicted and I'm even ok with the racism as there is an attempt to explain it and show that it is unacceptable. I'm not so keen on the friend's dad who gives wine to the 12 year old boys and that friend's fixation on breasts and I'm really put off by the homophobia. As an adult I realize the racism and homophobia fit with the historical context but I wonder if 10-11 year olds will get that.
4saradouglas's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this one... a great historical fiction read. At first I was unsure of the alternating chapters because I was immediately pulled into the chapters where everyone is rushing into the bomb shelter because WWIII was obviously beginning, but after a tense chapter of that we are suddenly met with a chapter that happens days/weeks beforehand where the boys are daring each other to steal a cheesecake from a neighbor. Not exactly the same intensity level there. Eventually I found both tales equally interesting, but it took a little while. I really enjoyed this glance into the 60s and you really get a sense of what it was like worrying about Russians bombing us, the embarrassment of having the only parent building a bomb shelter, and you also see some of the racism and sexism of the era. I see in the reviews that there are a lot of people angry about the more adult parts of the book, spurred by a friend who encourages the main character to drink, steal, and look at a Playboy. I didn't mind; I thought it was a pretty realistic look at adolescence! (Especially, as the characters keep saying, what's the point of being good when we don't know if we're going to even live to see tomorrow?)
justlily's review against another edition
DNF because the flashbacks to before they went into the shelter bored me. Just gimme the dramatic parts, please.
pacifickle's review against another edition
2.0
Baffled by this book. Set it down for a while, then finished it, and I kept thinking I had no idea who I'd recommend it to.
millennialbookreview's review against another edition
1.0
I don't know what this book was meant to be. Parts of it read like a Middle Grade novel, but other parts are too graphic, too mature to not be young adult at the least. The subject matter and the premise hint at one thing, but the final product is something else entirely. The story is told alternating between two periods in time: the months leading up to a nuclear attack and the days following the attack as characters in a bomb shelter try to survive. Neither timeline is particularly interesting or has a compelling plot, and I finished the book feeling as though nothing happened. I kept reading, expecting a twist, which never came. The characters got on my nerves as well, as they weren't particularly well-written. The prose was the thing that stood out to me about this book. The author gave vivid, detailed, at times graphic, descriptions of the conditions in the bomb shelter which made the story immersive.
brandypainter's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars
Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
Fallout by Todd Strasser is an alternate history in which the Cuban Missile Crisis ends with an actual atomic bomb going off in the US. It chronicles the days a family and some of their neighbors spend in their fallout shelter following the blast. I was intrigued by the concept, but have mixed feelings about the result.
The book alternates chapters back and forth between before and after. The odd chapters tell the story in the shelter, the evens the story of life in a 1960's neighborhood.
The 1960's neighborhood story is an excellent work of historical fiction. One of the finest I've seen of the era. There are some scenes in which the neighborhood boys discuss sexuality in a way that may be disturbing to some young readers. Scott's best friend is always talking about wanting to see girls naked and he goes so far as to call Scott a "homo" at one point. Then tries to explain what that means. It is spot on accurate type of conversation for the time period, but I'm not sure it is entirely necessary for the purposes of the book. I would not use this with my students younger than 7th grade, and even then I would be careful. I don't know that students much older than that would find it engrossing though.
The fallout shelter scenes have all the urgency and danger of dystopian fiction. Kids who like those type of books will be drawn to the story in this one. It is all about the struggle for survival as food runs short, water supplies are scarce, people are scared, and some are injured. I feel like this section sort of focused on the worst humanity has to offer rather than the best. The characters read more as caricatures than real people. Even the main character Scott always seemed distant. The book overall seemed more about the ideas and history than about the people, which is not the type of story I enjoy as much.
In the end this book wasn't the right fit for me as a reader, but I know there are many out there who will appreciate it. The writing is strong, the concept intriguing, and the plot engaging.
Warning for Concerned Parents: There are some discussions of sexuality that may be disturbing for younger readers.
I read an e-galley provided to my the publisher, Candlewick, via NetGalley. Fallout will be available for purchase September 10.
Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
Fallout by Todd Strasser is an alternate history in which the Cuban Missile Crisis ends with an actual atomic bomb going off in the US. It chronicles the days a family and some of their neighbors spend in their fallout shelter following the blast. I was intrigued by the concept, but have mixed feelings about the result.
The book alternates chapters back and forth between before and after. The odd chapters tell the story in the shelter, the evens the story of life in a 1960's neighborhood.
The 1960's neighborhood story is an excellent work of historical fiction. One of the finest I've seen of the era. There are some scenes in which the neighborhood boys discuss sexuality in a way that may be disturbing to some young readers. Scott's best friend is always talking about wanting to see girls naked and he goes so far as to call Scott a "homo" at one point. Then tries to explain what that means. It is spot on accurate type of conversation for the time period, but I'm not sure it is entirely necessary for the purposes of the book. I would not use this with my students younger than 7th grade, and even then I would be careful. I don't know that students much older than that would find it engrossing though.
The fallout shelter scenes have all the urgency and danger of dystopian fiction. Kids who like those type of books will be drawn to the story in this one. It is all about the struggle for survival as food runs short, water supplies are scarce, people are scared, and some are injured. I feel like this section sort of focused on the worst humanity has to offer rather than the best. The characters read more as caricatures than real people. Even the main character Scott always seemed distant. The book overall seemed more about the ideas and history than about the people, which is not the type of story I enjoy as much.
In the end this book wasn't the right fit for me as a reader, but I know there are many out there who will appreciate it. The writing is strong, the concept intriguing, and the plot engaging.
Warning for Concerned Parents: There are some discussions of sexuality that may be disturbing for younger readers.
I read an e-galley provided to my the publisher, Candlewick, via NetGalley. Fallout will be available for purchase September 10.
crhbrault's review against another edition
4.0
Quick, easy read that rewrites the "what if" of the Cold War in a very interesting way.