November
15, 2007
FAIR MILE BOOKS PRESENTS GOLDEN
Siobhán Barry-Bratcher’s
young adult novel gives kids insight into
how the Summer of Love impacted their generation
and as much as her own
Finding one’s place in the world and
fending off bullies are challenges confronted
by every generation of teenagers. But what
was it like for a kid to face those challenges
during a period in history when so many
of America’s adult citizens believed
their country was in the throes of a nervous
breakdown?
When hippie fashions became all the retro
rage a few years ago, Siobhán Barry-Bratcher
was amused by the sight of cell phone-toting,
iPod-wearing youngsters clad in tie-dye,
India prints, Kurtas, bellbottoms, sequins
and beads. Telling incredulous teenagers
that outfits now considered trendy and cute
had once gotten her invited out of stores,
schools, churches, neighborhoods, and other
people’s lives sparked lengthy discussions
about the late 1960s. From these talks,
Siobhán concluded that today’s
younger generation knew little or nothing
about one of the most turbulent periods
in their country’s history.
“Faded jeans, Eastern religions, bare
feet, Native American headbands and Frank
Zappa couldn’t possibly have been
what two survivors of the Great Depression
and World War Two envisioned for their only
daughter when I arrived in 1954. Nothing
in Dr. Spock’s child care book could
have prepared them for what was coming either,”
insists Brooklyn born author Siobhán
Barry-Bratcher. “What happened forty
years ago wasn’t ultimately about
a style of dress, a type of music, or a
neighborhood in San Francisco. The effects
of the Summer of Love weren’t confined
to one generation. That short season colored
the way many of us have conducted our lives,
the way we reared our children and the attitudes
we’re passing on to our grandchildren.”
Golden is the
story of Margherite Murphy, a thirteen-year-old
who declares herself a hippie during the
summer of 1967. Happy with herself for the
first time in her life, she is totally unprepared
for the hostile reactions of the people
around her who are threatened by her new
identity. How do you take an ostracized
kid, unsympathetic teachers, frustrated
parents, race riots, a police riot, a war,
ethnic stereotypes, a couple of assassinations,
a vile talk show host, a landmark Supreme
Court decision, and a cultural revolution
and make them add up to a happy ending?
Golden manages to do just that. Along with
an interview with the author and a list
of 1960s-related internet resources, the
book includes a section titled, “A
Day In The Sixties”, in which the
53-year-old author gives kids of the new
millennium some first-hand insight into
what everyday life was like during a time
“when the world was simpler, if not
as user friendly”.
Golden is distributed
nationally to the publishing industry through
Fair Mile Books. It may also be ordered
through Amazon.com and directly through
the publisher’s web site at www.fairmilebooks.com.
Author: Siobhán Barry-Bratcher
ISBN: 978-0-9705135-1-9
Format: Soft Cover, 5.5 x 8.5, 325 pages
Publisher: Fair Mile Books
www.fairmilebooks.com
For More Information:
Siobhán Barry-Bratcher
Fair Mile Books
38 65th Street
West New York, New Jersey 07093
Phone: 201 861 7614
Email
Fair Mile Books
