Cold War on Maplewood Street (13 page)

Author's Note

I was twelve when President Kennedy made his somber speech announcing the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was the beginning of the longest—and scariest—week of my childhood.

I vividly remember how eerily quiet the school yard was the next morning and how the kids who actually came to school knotted together in small groups, quoting reassuring words they'd heard from their parents but unable to sound as if they entirely believed them. Their expressions were suddenly older and fearful in a way that went far beyond worry about an upcoming test or report card.

The air-raid drills and “duck and cover” practices did nothing to relieve the tension that always clung to us that week. They made it worse, in fact—the blasts of the bells calling to the surface all the fear we were trying to bury for a while beneath math, and English, and social studies that didn't revolve around the possibility of the destruction of the world.

I was shocked to discover some years ago that many people weren't aware of this extraordinary week in our
history, a week in which the United States came within a heartbeat of nuclear war. To me, this was incomprehensible. The Cuban Missile Crisis should never be forgotten because it is proof that even when war looks and feels inevitable, it can be avoided by negotiation—by using words instead of weapons.

And so I was moved to write this story about what was for me an unforgettable week.

Although
Cold War on Maplewood Street
is a work of fiction, the emotions and the headlines and news stories presented in it are absolutely
true.

Acknowledgments

There are many people to thank for their help and support during
Cold War on Maplewood Street
's evolution from idea to finished book:

My keen-eyed critique group (who are also among my dearest friends): Amy Laundrie, Jacqueline Houtman, Bridget Birdsall, Amanda Coppedge, Laurie Rosengren, and Kathleen Ernst.

My family and friends, who are always there to encourage and support me, especially my beloved husband and partner in all things, Don.

My wonderfully wise and talented editor, Susan Kochan, who saw my vision for this book and whose insights helped shape it into all that I envisioned and more.

And my special friend and self-proclaimed “first fan,” Jan Dundon, whose belief in this story and whose help researching in the Chicago
Tribune
archives were invaluable to the writing of this book.

I am so grateful to all of you!

 

GAYLE ROSENGREN
grew up in Chicago. Like Joanna in
Cold War on Maplewood Street,
she enjoyed school, was a voracious reader, and loved dogs and horses. She attended Knox College, where she majored in creative writing and was the editor of the literary magazine. Gayle never outgrew her passion for children's books, and worked as a children's and young adult librarian at Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook, Illinois, for several years, enthusiastically sharing her love of books.

Gayle eventually moved to Wisconsin, but by then she was the mother of three children. She worked in a reference library and as a copy editor, and she wrote short stories for children that appeared in
Cricket, Ladybug,
Jack and Jill,
and
Children's Digest
magazines. Now Gayle writes full-time just outside of Madison, Wisconsin, where she lives with her husband, Don, and their slightly neurotic rescue dog, Fiona. She is living her dream, she says, writing books she hopes will make the same difference in children's lives as her favorite authors made in hers.
Cold War on Maplewood Street
is her second novel for young readers.

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