The Apothecary by Maile Meloy in another book on my personal summer reading list.  This book has some serious content, but through the eyes of Janie, it's her life and all she has ever known.

After the celebrations of the end of World War II, Janie hoped life would be better, she would have real butter instead of oleomargarine, she would get a baby sister, and her family would go the Kings Canyon to see the giant trees, but it wasn't that simple.  The Cold War had begun and many people were suspected of being communists.  Men begin following Janie and suddenly the family moves to London, under suspicious circumstances.  Janie is not happy to leave California, especially to London, which is still recovering from World War II (they don't even have chocolate back yet, much to her father's horror).  At her new school, Janie doesn't feel like she fits in, her classes are not the same as back home, she doesn't know anyone and she has to take Latin.  Then she meets Ben.  Ben is the son of the local apothecary who desperately wants a more exciting life than his father's.  Janie tags along on Ben's spy adventures and suddenly they are swept up in a world of magic, nuclear disaster, and intrigue.  The apothecary is not just a simple pharmacist, he along with some others in his society are out to save the world, and Janie and Ben want to help.  This book is filled with kidnappings, mystery, spies and a little romance.  Can they save the world, do they have what it takes to change a nuclear bomb?  Read The Apothecary by Maile Meloy.