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for self-defense only.
    â€œBut President Kennedy has evidence that they’ve been setting up missile bases,” Mr. Egan said. “Bases that will be capable of launching nuclear missiles at the United States. President Kennedy has insisted they be removed. And he’s sending American ships to quarantine Cuba—to prevent Russian ships from bringing in any more missiles.”
    Mr. Egan walked to the front of his desk. He tugged on his tie, which was an uglier than usual brown and gold plaid. “I don’t believe this situation will end in war,” he said, “but right now nothing is certain. All we can do is hope and pray all will be well.”
    Sherry raised her hand and proudly announced that her father had been in World War II and the Korean War. “He says there’s nothing to worry about. American GIs can whip any army, Russians included.”
    Murmurs of agreement rippled through the class.
    Joanna’s hand shot up. “My brother, Sam, is in the navy, on a destroyer in the Atlantic. He could be part of the quarantine.”
    Kids turned and looked at Joanna with expressions of surprise, concern, and respect. Joanna blushed and lowered her eyes. She hadn’t wanted attention for herself. She just wanted people to know that Sam might be in danger. As if the more people who knew, the safer he would be. Which was stupid. It wouldn’t make a difference. She slid down in her seat and blushed hotter, glad when everyone turned back toward Mr. Egan.
    â€œI’m sure your family is very concerned about Sam’s safety,” Mr. Egan said. “But I’m also sure you’re very proud of him.”
    Joanna chewed on her lower lip. Was she proud of Sam? She had so many Sam-feelings swirling around inside, they were hard to separate from one another. She was angry at him, she knew that for sure. And she loved him. Mad as she was, she still knew that for sure, too. But proud? She was too full of fear for him to tell. She just wished he was home and safe.
    A boy with a blue office pass scurried into theclassroom with a note. Mr. Egan read it and the boy hurried off. Mr. Egan cleared his throat. “That was a message from Principal Owens. There will be an air-raid drill at nine forty-five. It’s just a drill—a practice. There’s no reason to be alarmed.”
    Desks creaked as kids twisted around to look at one another. Joanna saw the fear that she was feeling reflected on each of their faces. She wished she had stayed home.
    When the bell rang to begin the drill, Joanna was the second one to the front of the room. She followed Debbie Rickers into the hallway. They sat on the cold floor, facing the wall and hunched forward, covering their heads with their hands—duck and cover, it was called.
    Joanna didn’t realize Theo was on her other side until he jostled her with his elbow. “Sorry,” he whispered.
    He was so close she could hear each of his breaths—in and out, in and out. But then she heard something that made her forget about even the nearness of Theo.
    Somewhere down the hall a kid was crying. That in itself was pretty bad. But even worse was the fact that no one—not even Billy Hammersley—laughed or even snickered.
    In that moment, the truth struck Joanna like a lightning bolt that lit up everything and jolted her from head to toe—the “whole truth,” like they said on
Perry Mason,
“and nothing but the truth.” Mr. Egan had said they should pray. That alone should have told her how badthings were—a teacher in public school talking about praying! But now she understood why.
    If the Russians attacked the United States, it would almost certainly be with nuclear weapons. Nuclear bombs wouldn’t just destroy a few buildings, the way regular bombs did in war movies. They’d destroy whole cities.
    She and Sam had watched an episode of
The Twentieth Century
about how during World War II, the