Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide contain descriptions of war, war-related trauma, racism, ableism, and sexual harassment.

It is 1962, and Scott is an 11-year-old boy who lives with his parents and his brother, Sparky, in a suburb of New York City. One night, Scott is awakened by his panicked father, who tells him that they are being attacked. To the sound of sirens, the family hunkers down in the fallout shelter located beneath the children’s playroom. As they climb down the metal rungs of the ladder, voices sound through the house, along with the sounds of crashing metal as people break in and call out the names of Scott’s parents. Suddenly, a loud noise comes from above Scott on the ladder, and he jumps out of the way as his mother crashes to the floor with Sparky on top of her.

The narrative shifts to the days before the attack, during the final week of fifth grade. Scott and his friends, Freak O’Nature and Ronnie, are listening to a Yankees game on the radio.