On an ordinary day in an ordinary American city, spunky 9-year-old Morris Byrd III sets out with his red wagon and little sister en route to a friend’s home across town. Morris may only be a fourth-grader, but he’s well aware of the War currently being waged in this the year 1944, the implications of which have indirectly affected life at home. After all, it would be hard to ignore the day-to-day bustling industry in his hometown of Cleveland, to say nothing of similarly echoed sentiments on bravery and patriotism issued by his teacher. Not so much concerned with the grown-up world at the moment, Morris is more interested in reaching his friend Stanley Chaloupka's house in time for dinner.Things change in a hurry, however, when an accident of historical proportions occurs right in front of Morris’ eyes, exposing the young boy to a terror seldom experienced by soldiers much less underage civilians far from the front lines. Those familiar with the localized 1947 incident won’t be so much the same concerning the Cleveland Gas Explosion of 1944 which, prior to Texas City’s own infamous disaster, was the largest-scale industrial accident of the twentieth century. A native Clevelander, Robertson delivers a trademark novel depicting an altogether more serene time and place prior to a immensely violent event ruptured the lives of not only those directly involved in it, but an entire city which was irrevocably altered and a generation forever changed thereafter. (FIC ROBERTSON)
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