Late October, 1962. Wes Avery, a one-time air force tail-gunner, is living his version of the American dream as loving husband to Sarah, doting father to 17-year-old Charlotte, and owner of a successful Texaco station along central Florida's busiest highway. But after President Kennedy announces that the Soviets have nuclear missiles in Cuba, army convoys clog the highways, and the sky fills with fighter planes. Within days, Wes' carefully constructed life begins to unravel.

Sarah, nervous and watchful, spends more and more time in the family's bomb shelter, slipping away into childhood memories and the dreams she once held for the future. Charlotte is wary but caught up in the excitement of high school - her nomination to homecoming court, the upcoming dance, and the thrill of first love. Wes, remembering his wartime experience, tries to keep his family's days as normal as possible, hoping to restore a sense of calm. But as the panic over the missile crisis rises, a long-buried secret threatens to push the Averys over the edge.

With heartbreaking clarity and compassion, Susan Carol McCarthy captures the shock and innocence, anxiety and fear, in those 13 historic days and brings vividly to life one ordinary family trying to hold center while the world around them falls apart.