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A fourteen-year-old boy sets out to solve a mystery and prove his patriotism in this riveting and suspenseful spy novel, uniquely blended with real-life historical details, from New York Times bestselling author L.M. Elliott.

It’s 1953, and Richard and his family believe deeply in American values and love of country. The United States has just executed an American couple convicted of spying for the Soviet Union. Senator Joe McCarthy wages a zealous hunt for “subversives” and communist sympathizers. Everyone is on edge in the standoff between communism and democracy, and with a father working for the FBI, Richard knows which side he stands on.

Yet when a boy named Vlad moves in down the street with his Czechoslovakian family, their bold ideas about art and politics bring everything into question for Richard. Although he’s quickly drawn to Vlad’s confidence, musical sensibilities, and passion for literature, Richard—longing to prove he’s a good American—begins to suspect Vlad’s family may be involved with the very ideas McCarthy is trying to root out. As the nation’s paranoia spirals out of control, blurred lines between friend and foe could lead to a betrayal that destroys lives.

Saturated with the ominous atmosphere of the 1950s where paranoia, suspicion, loyalty oaths, blacklists, political profiling, hostility to foreigners, and guilt by association divide the nation, and punctuated with photos, news headlines, ads, and quotes from the era, this tense, breakneck novel breathes new life into a troubling chapter of our history.

“A tense, engrossing story that effectively captures the suspicion and paranoia that prevailed during American history’s darkest chapters.” —Kirkus Reviews

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On Sale: Sep 19, 2017
Page Count: 304 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9781423157540

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L.M. Elliott

About the Author

L. M. Elliott was an award-winning magazine journalist in Washington, DC, before becoming a New York Times bestselling author of historical and biographical young adult novels. Her works include Under a War-Torn Sky, Suspect Red, Hamilton and Peggy!, Walls, and Bea and the New Deal Horse, have won the Scott O'Dell, the VLA Cardinal Cup, and the Grateful American Book Prize for historical fiction, and been named NCSS/CBC Notables, Bank Street College of Ed. Bests, and Kirkus Bests. Visit her online at lmelliott.com.

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