It's 1958, the Cold War is on, and McCarthyism causes ordinary citizens to be suspected of treason. In Berkeley, California, fourteen-year-old Donna is happily organizing the Ritchie Valens fan club, when her father, a physics professor at the University of California, comes under investigation by the FBI. Her rebellious older sister, Alice, joins a group of beatniks before she is mysteriously whisked away from the family. Meanwhile, the sisters' mother suffers a nervous breakdown and must be hospitalized. It is up to Donna to find Alice and to defend her father when he faces possible arrest. On May 13, 1960, at the San Francisco House Un-American Activities Committee hearing, Donna is caught between angry demonstrators and militant police in a dangerous conflict that ignites a decade of protest.
Praise for Janet Nichols Lynch
My Beautiful Hippie "With realism, humor and honesty, [Lynch] describes . . . psychedelic drugs, feminism, anti-war demonstrations and profound political upheaval."
--Kirkus Reviews
Messed Up An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and VOYA Top of the Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers "Sad, moving, and profound."
--Jeffrey Kaplan, The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents, ALAN Picks
Racing California, A Society of School Librarians International Honor Book. "This uncommon sports novel will find bike racing some new fans."
--Booklist
Peace is a Four-Letter Word "Characters are drawn with real complexity . . . reflects honest debate."
--Booklist
Addicted to Her "Fast paced and thought-provoking . . . a powerful account of a consuming teenage relationship."
--Publishers Weekly
