COUNTDOWN

The audio format strengthens the setting of the first book in Wiles’s Sixties Trilogy. Emma Galvin narrates the convincing first-person story of 11-year-old “Army brat” Franny. Galvin expresses both Franny’s fierce exterior and her inner fears concerning her shell-shocked uncle, her secretive sister, and her fading friendship with her best friend, as well as the threat of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Additional strength comes from the production’s periodic clips, which deftly portray the era: a recording of a Khrushchev speech, a static-filled BBC report, cartoon character quotes, bits of sixties songs, and the ticking of a movie projector as an announcer provides directions for how to “duck and cover.” These evocative auditory montages add to the authenticity of the setting and serve as social commentary that seems almost as important as the novel’s characters. S.W. 2012 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2011]