The Year of the Bomb — Ronald Kidd

When Paul and his friends Arnie, Crank, and Oz find out that a horror movie will be filmed in their town, they can't believe it -- they even manage to get onto the set and meet some of the extras. But then they learn that some of the actors are really undercover agents, and the four boys find themselves tangled in an investigation. Nuclear bombs, conspiracies, and pod people are only supposed to exist in horror movies -- right?

Set against the backdrop of 1950s McCarthyism, this is a masterfully told coming-of-age novel by acclaimed writer Ronald Kidd.