Purple Daze
A Far Out Trip, 1965
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A poignant coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of 1960s social upheaval.
As senior year approaches, Ziggy, Mickey, Cheryl, Nancy, Don, and Phil navigate love, friendship, and identity amidst the Vietnam War and civil rights movement in Los Angeles. Through interconnected poems, journal entries, and letters, their lives unfold with humor, pain, and raw honesty.
Experience 1965 through the eyes of six high school friends as they grapple with war, protests, and personal change. Will their bonds survive the turbulent times? Perfect for readers seeking:
Historical YA fictionVerse novels about friendshipStories of social change and self-discovery
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Shahan's (Death Mountain) novel in verse is packed with the experiences and emotions of six suburban Los Angeles high school students during the tumultuous year of 1965, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War draft, political assassinations, racism, the advent of LSD and Napalm, and rock 'n' roll. More than anything it's a story of innocence lost: Nancy unhappily works in a diner after her boyfriend Phil is drafted; Cheryl is attacked by her "sex pervert" neighbor, and her relationship with Don is on the rocks; and Ziggy runs wild with sex and drugs after her boyfriend, Mickey, joins the Navy ("Think I'll drop out and enlist./ It'd be a blast to blow stuff up"). Telling her story largely through the characters' journal entries, notes, and letters, Shahan also offers interludes about period events, speeches, and culture, further contextualizing the setting and helping illuminate each teen's circumstances and their shared feelings of abandonment, resentment, and betrayal. Shahan's writing pulls no punches as she offers a poignant mosaic that functions on personal and universal levels. Ages 14 up.
