Ellen Wittlinger (1948–2022)

It's 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis is looming and 5th grader Juliet has just lost her beloved grandpa. On top of that, her best friend dumped her just because she's a girl. Left alone, Juliet befriends a new girl named Patsy who decides they should hold a contest to prove that girls are just as good as boys.

This is not an upbeat book. You'd think that the competition between boys and girls would at least be a little fun, but it's mostly not thanks to the older bully, Bruce, bossing everyone else around and Patsy's ferocious need to win. So while the book has good characters, good writing, and an interesting historical context, it didn't wow me because it felt like a big downer. The stress of the looming Cold War greatly affects Juliet, to the point where she seems constantly anxious and depressed. I think the author was worried about the book being too sad, so she had the characters tell a lot of corny jokes. I like a good corny joke, but they didn't really make up for all the gloom and doom.

Another complaint is that the story was a touch on the didactic side. I was especially weary of Juliet's prayers to God and her wondering over whether God exists (not because it wasn't believable, but because it seemed cliched).

This is a good book if you want to learn more about how ordinary kids were affected by the Cold War or if you want a book about how to deal with fear and loss. But it's not the best choice if you want boys vs. girls fun like in [b:The Boys Start the War|24196|The Boys Start the War (Boy/Girl Battle)|Phyllis Reynolds Naylor|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167520590s/24196.jpg|1973511] by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.… (meer)