At first this book seems unassuming and a little unremarkable – but Emma Hughes has the same talent as Shirley Hughes for portraying real life in an understated but vivid way that just opens your eyes and makes you feel like you are in the room. Carroll tells the story, set in a very average 1970s cul-de-sac, of three children whose lives collide in an expected way. Ray and Stevie find a girl hiding in the shed in Stevie’s garden, and what follows is a tale of friendship and family restoration, as well as the uncovering of a buried political scandal. I have never read anything for children set during the Cuban Missile Crisis before. It’s littered with interesting cultural references and the characters are people you can imagine being friends with. Carroll champions the power of free speech and the end of the novel shows the power of people uniting to speak truth to power to bring hope. This book made me want to ask my parents ‘What was it like for you….what do you remember?’.