Twin sisters find themselves growing apart as they respond differently to their father’s postwar trauma, the NASCAR speedway in their town, and their new high school

With home life destabilized by her father’s post-World War II trauma, Ellie Honeycutt seeks escape at the NASCAR speedway and in her dreams of travel and college. Meanwhile, her twin sister, Ida, clings to family and finds solace in her sketchbook. Their close relationship is threatened when they both fall for the same charming classmate at their new high school—but a devastating car accident renews the sisters’ deep bond, forcing them to reverse their roles.
 
Set against the backdrop of the nuclear arms race and the 1952 presidential election, this middle grade historical fiction novel is a powerful story of sisterhood and growing up, told in the twins’ alternating voices.

This middle-grade book, the fourth in the best-selling Bakers Mountain Stories series by Joyce Moyer Hostetter, features twin sisters Ida and Ellie Honeycutt, who find themselves growing apart as they respond differently to their father's postwar trauma, the NASCAR speedway in their town, and their new high school.

With home life destabilized by her father's postwar trauma, Ellie Honeycutt seeks escape at the NASCAR speedway and in her dreams of travel and college, while her twin sister, Ida, clings to family and finds solace in her sketchbook. Their close relationship is threatened when they both fall for the same charming classmate at their new high school. But a devastating car accident renews the sisters' deep bond and forces them to reverse their roles. Set against the backdrop of the nuclear arms race and the 1952 presidential election, this coming-of-age story is told in the twins' alternating voices.