Gross, Virginia T. "The President is Dead: the Story of the Kennedy Assassination" New York, Viking Press, 1993. Print.

Bernardo wants to get away from a bully at school and prove, at least to himself, that he can do something extraordinary. When he learns that his hero, President John F. Kennedy and his beautiful wife Jackie will be coming to Dallas, Bernardo decides to skip school to go to Dealey Plaza and watch his hero pass by in a motorcade. He takes a few dollars from his mother's purse, adding to the secrets he must keep on this day.

Bernardo is proud of his father's restaurant, home of the best Mexican food in Dallas, and leaves his school books in the woodbin behind the restaurant kitchen so he can take the bus to Dealey Plaza. There he gets caught up in the excitement of the crowd as they eait for the popular president to come by, and that is where Bernardo witnesses the most extraordinary event of the 1960's. But can he tell anyone what he saw and what he knows?

This hardcover book, 52 pages long, includes at the end a short explanation of the historical significance of the Kennedy mystique, his presidency and popularity, and the facts about his assassination. Gross addresses the multiple gun men theory - indeed it is central to the story. Dan Andreasen provided the black-and-white drawings.

I enjoyed the perspective of this story, as told by an elementary-school-aged Latino American. The story moves steadily through the fateful day, then through the days of national grief and sorrow, unfolding in a rather suspenseful way even though older readers will certainly know the events. Unlike Gross' Johnstown Flood book, there is no confusion of characters and she seems to have enough pages to tell the story with all the necessary details intact. Bernardo's shame at having lied and stolen from his parents is compounded by his grief at witnessing up close the assassination of his hero. this is resolved well by a talk with his (wise and compassionate) mother.