It's Saturday, october 27, 1962,the darkest day of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Two children, Ralph and his littlesister Lou, are searching for empty bottles in a vacant lotwhen they discover a rock which-to them, at least-looks quite a lot like Jesus. Ralph immediately declares it aPossible Holy Object. And, since his fondest wish is to be a"boy-in-a-story," he earnestly places himself and Lou-nowhis "sidekick"-in a tale featuring the "sacred rock" as thekey to nothing less than saving the world from nuclearannihilation.

But there's another boy, Toby-older, shrewder, andquite a bit larger-who has very different plans for therock, intending to use it as a lucrative sideshow exhibit,complete with fliers: Is it Jesus? Or just a rock? You decide!Hovering over the children and their small-scale war isthe general anxiety and dread attending the most perilousmoment in our history. As we approach the 50th anniversaryof the Cuban Missile Crisis, John Manderino's TheH-bomb and the Jesus Rock provides a unique, children's-eyeview of that near-Armageddon.