Some say the Cold War never truly ended - or at the very least, that the general American consensus never drastically changed towards understanding or accepting tenets of communism over capitalism. After a few drafts, I found myself gravitating toward her story, a child with polio, and that became Red Scare as we know it today. Initially, Peggy was the little sister to my original main character. My childhood in the '80s seems like it was made up mostly of rock and roll and plastic, so a world like 1953, where neither one was common yet, basically sounds like sci-fi to me! It was also a unique period in being early enough in the nuclear age that people still thought they could duck and cover in the case of a nuclear attack and probably be okay.Ī whole lot of things were just about to change polio, for example, was still a terrifying reality, but in another year the Salk vaccine would be announced. I find the early '50s really interesting because the period is so different from the world I grew up in.

Now I’m even getting calls from Hollywood! I’m super-duper happy about it because I definitely set out to make a book that I would have read over and over if I’d come across it as a young reader.Īs to your question, I actually started with the year and found Peggy along the way. It’s so exciting to me that it’s getting such a positive response from early readers and getting praise from people like Jeff Smith and Roz Chast. Well, first I want to thank you for your interest in my book. CBR: Why choose the year 1953 to begin this tale? What about this specific year made it the best place to begin Peggy's story?

Red scare liam francis walsh