Join BookBrowse today and get access to free books, our twice monthly digital magazine, and more.

Excerpt from A Girl's Guide to Missiles by Karen Piper, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Readalikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

A Girl's Guide to Missiles

Growing Up in America's Secret Desert

by Karen Piper

A Girl's Guide to Missiles by Karen Piper X
A Girl's Guide to Missiles by Karen Piper
  • Critics' Opinion:

    Readers' Opinion:

     Not Yet Rated
  • First Published:
    Aug 2018, 336 pages

    Paperback:
    Aug 2019, 352 pages

    Genres

  • Rate this book


Book Reviewed by:
Adrienne Pisch
Buy This Book

About this Book

Print Excerpt


Finally, Kennedy got up and ended his visit with a one-minute speech in which he said it was nice to see all the healthy- looking children in California. He always liked the children. Then he said, "I cannot think of a prouder occupation when asked what our occupation may be than to say, 'I serve the United States of America.' " This is the part that everyone quotes, but it is not the most important part.

Kennedy was driven away down Blandy Avenue, named after the man in charge of the Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests. Admiral Blandy once defended his actions amid antinuclear protests by saying, "I am not an atomic playboy, exploding these bombs to satisfy my personal whim." Kennedy was a playboy, though he denied it too. Women could tell, even in China Lake. They threw themselves at his car as he drove away, trying to stop him from leaving.

Adapted from A Girl's Guide to Missiles by Karen Piper, published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2018 by Karen Piper

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Beyond the Book:
  The Cold War UFO Craze

Support BookBrowse

Join our inner reading circle, go ad-free and get way more!

Find out more


Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Table for Two
    Table for Two
    by Amor Towles
    Amor Towles's short story collection Table for Two reads as something of a dream compilation for...
  • Book Jacket: Bitter Crop
    Bitter Crop
    by Paul Alexander
    In 1958, Billie Holiday began work on an ambitious album called Lady in Satin. Accompanied by a full...
  • Book Jacket: Under This Red Rock
    Under This Red Rock
    by Mindy McGinnis
    Since she was a child, Neely has suffered from auditory hallucinations, hearing voices that demand ...
  • Book Jacket: Clear
    Clear
    by Carys Davies
    John Ferguson is a principled man. But when, in 1843, those principles drive him to break from the ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
Only the Beautiful
by Susan Meissner
A heartrending story about a young mother’s fight to keep her daughter, and the terrible injustice that tears them apart.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The House on Biscayne Bay
    by Chanel Cleeton

    As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.

  • Book Jacket

    The Flower Sisters
    by Michelle Collins Anderson

    From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.

Win This Book
Win The Funeral Cryer

The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu

Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.

Enter

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

M as A H

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.