In the Unlikely Event takes place in the early 1950s when the United States is dealing with the
Korean War along with changing social mores. Miri Ammerman is the daughter of a single mother whose father left before she was born. Miri learns to negotiate a difficult adolescence with her loving family as they, and everyone in her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, deal with the unexpected and unexplained rash of airplane crashes literally in their backyards. The novel is based on three actual plane crashes that took place in Elizabeth, Blume's hometown, over the course of 58 days. The
first accident occurred on December 16, 1951, with the plane crashing into the Elizabeth River. The
second crash happened on January 22, 1952, and nearly hit the
Battin High School for girls. The
last crash was on February 11 of the same year and narrowly missed an orphanage. == Awards ==