This is the story of young girl named Haddie growing up in a rural Maryland town in 1962. It is told by the grown-up Haddie who is looking back on a summer that changed everything. It is a time of turmoil. Racial tensions are growing and seen here when a white man shoots and kills a young black boy who is beating up his son. Haddie is a witness at the trial. The trial brings in big city demonstrators and seems to trigger an arsonist. Also, Haddie's crush goes to Vietnam and comes back disillusioned and depressed. Along the way are also the day-to-day activities of listening to music and hanging out with friends. This is the summer Haddie turns 13 and she is sometimes a child and sometimes a young woman. This is marketed as a YA but I think it is a YA only in the same sense that To Kill a Mockingbird is a YA. I do think it is a nostalgic look back at the time but I am uncertain of its appeal to teens.
