Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Strasser once again combines terrific suspense with thoughtful depth when the bombs really do fall in this alternate-history Cuban missile crisis thriller. Eleven-year-old Scott's family becomes the laughingstock of their neighborhood when, worried about possible nuclear attack, they build a bomb shelter. However, when the Civil Defense siren sounds, sending them to the shelter, they can't keep their neighbors out, even though they have enough food for only their own family. In chapters that alternate between their time in the shelter and the weeks leading up to the attack, the story reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the characters. Scott and his friend Ronnie, the rather nasty neighborhood smartass, continue their friendly rivalry in the shelter, while their parents reveal much about their own personalities. The book examines racism; when Scott's mother becomes so seriously injured that it seems she will not survive, their neighbor wants to put both her and the family's black maid out of the shelter to die. The author peppers the narrative with tidbits from the early '60s, such as Tang, MAD magazine and talk of "Ruskies," "Commies" and duck-and-cover school drills. Scott's believably childlike narration recounts events and adults' reactions to them as he understands them. This riveting examination of things important to a boy suddenly thrust into an adult catastrophe is un-put-down-able. (Thriller. 10-14)

ALA Booklist (Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

Inspired by the summer of 1962 when his family built a bomb shelter, Strasser's alternate-history novel about the Cuban missile crisis is a suspenseful, quietly emotional account of the unthinkable: nuclear war. Eleven-year-old Scott is the only kid on the block with a bomb shelter. Though the neighborhood kids tease, while their parents act disdainful, when the sirens sound, they mob the shelter and force their way in. After a furious struggle, during which Scott's mother is seriously injured, the shelter is sealed with 10 people inside, 6 more than planned for and with many more left outside. As time passes and the supplies dwindle, grief, guilt, and fear turn the relationships among the adults ugly, even sparking talks of who should be put out. Strasser nicely contrasts this oppressive life, where Scott becomes aware of adult conflicts, with his innocence during the weeks leading up to the bomb. The titular fallout isn't just the environmental aftermath of the nuclear bomb but the survivors' emotional devastation, believably filtered through Scott's sensitive but well-rendered child's perspective.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Strasser once again combines terrific suspense with thoughtful depth when the bombs really do fall in this alternate-history Cuban missile crisis thriller. Eleven-year-old Scott's family becomes the laughingstock of their neighborhood when, worried about possible nuclear attack, they build a bomb shelter. However, when the Civil Defense siren sounds, sending them to the shelter, they can't keep their neighbors out, even though they have enough food for only their own family. In chapters that alternate between their time in the shelter and the weeks leading up to the attack, the story reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the characters. Scott and his friend Ronnie, the rather nasty neighborhood smartass, continue their friendly rivalry in the shelter, while their parents reveal much about their own personalities. The book examines racism; when Scott's mother becomes so seriously injured that it seems she will not survive, their neighbor wants to put both her and the family's black maid out of the shelter to die. The author peppers the narrative with tidbits from the early '60s, such as Tang, MAD magazine and talk of "Ruskies," "Commies" and duck-and-cover school drills. Scott's believably childlike narration recounts events and adults' reactions to them as he understands them. This riveting examination of things important to a boy suddenly thrust into an adult catastrophe is un-put-down-able. (Thriller. 10-14)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Strasser (Kill You Last) brings readers to the 1960s Long Island of his youth, with one crucial difference: in this story, the Cuban Missile Crisis leads Russia to bomb the U.S. The plot alternates between two threads set before and after the bomb drops; in the immediate aftermath, 11-year-old Scott, his family, and a handful of neighbors endure the increasingly difficult conditions in the subterranean bomb shelter Scott-s father built, waiting for radiation levels to fall. The format allows Strasser to have the best of both worlds. In the -before- chapters, he presents a vision of life during the Cold War that feels ripped from personal memory as Scott grows aware of racial prejudice, the prevailing -us vs. them- mentality toward Russia, and his own nascent sexuality (-You want to die without ever seeing a breast?- Scott-s snide friend Ronnie asks). Meanwhile, the -after- chapters are claustrophobic, heartbreaking, and at times ugly as civility breaks down among the few adult and children survivors. An eye-opening -what if- scenario about the human response to disaster. Ages 10-up. Agent: Stephen Barbara, Foundry Literary + Media. (Sept.)

School Library Journal (Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

Gr 9 Up-Kristina, the meth-addicted antiheroine of Crank (2004) and Glass (2007), has five children by four different men. Fallout is about the lives of her three oldest children. Hunter lives with his grandmother in Nevada. He cheats on his girlfriend and smokes a lot of dope. Autumn lives with her sweet aunt and gruff granddad in Texas. She has OCD and knows little about her mother. Summer lives in a trailer in California with her father and a string of abusive/slutty/stupid girlfriends. She hates pretty much everyone. Hopkins's not-quite poetry is as solid as ever, though her use of visual formations gets more mystifying and extraneous with each novel. Unfortunately, it's unlikely that Glass is fresh in the minds of most readers. As such, the Venn diagram of Kristina's baby-daddies, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and drug buddies -is impossible to follow, and may frustrate even the most interested readers. So much deciphering cripples the pace of Fallout . The plot is choked with the perpetual damage of meth addictionthere's too much message and not enough action. Hopkins spreads the narration too thin between three unlikable narrators, and none is ever fully realized. The mood here is just as depressing and cautionary as Glass , and Hopkins's presentation is even more self-indulgent. Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library