Best of
Coming-Of-Age

1968

Red Sky at Morning


Richard Bradford - 1968
    Navy and moves his wife, Ann, and seventeen-year-old son, Josh, to the family’s summer home in the village of Corazon Sagrado, high in the New Mexico mountains. A true daughter of the Confederacy, Ann finds it impossible to cope with the quality of life in the largely Hispanic village and, in the company of Jimbob Buel—an insufferable, South-proud, professional houseguest—takes to bridge and sherry. Josh, on the other hand, becomes an integral member of the Sagrado community, forging friendships with his new classmates, with the town’s disreputable resident artist, and with Amadeo and Excilda Montoya, the couple hired by his father to care for their house. Josh narrates the story of his fateful year in Sagrado and, with irresistibly deadpan, irreverent humor, describes the events and people who influence his progress to maturity. Unhindered by his mother's disdain for these "tacky, dusty little Westerners," Josh comes into his own and into a young man's finely formed understanding of duty, responsibility, and love.

A Kestrel for a Knave


Barry Hines - 1968
    Treated as a failure at school, and unhappy at home, Billy discovers a new passion in life when he finds Kes, a kestrel hawk. Billy identifies with her silent strength and she inspires in him the trust and love that nothing else can, discovering through her the passion missing from his life. Barry Hines's acclaimed novel continues to reach new generations of teenagers and adults with its powerful story of survival in a tough, joyless world.

Good Times/Bad Times


James Kirkwood Jr. - 1968
    Hoyt, Peter begins to pen the letter that makes up the pages of Good Times/Bad Times.From Peter’s elaborate involvement on campus and meeting the closest friend he’s ever had to the unwelcome sexual advances he received from Mr. Hoyt, this letter tells of the ups and downs of Peter’s time at school.As the good times give way to bad and a series of compelling incidents steadily heighten the tension of his time as a student at Gilford Academy, readers fall under the spell of the magnificent storyteller Peter exposes himself to be. Good Times/Bad Times pulses with warmth and laughter of the young and still honest, complete with strong and memorable characters.

Masha


Mara Kay - 1968
    Mara Kay has evoked the sheltered world of Smolni with authenticity and has provided colourful glimpses of St Petersburg and the greater world outside.

Greensleeves


Eloise Jarvis McGraw - 1968
    Paris, Milan, London—Shannon has been everywhere, but somewhere along the way, she realizes she’s really…nowhere.Having graduated from high school and about to board yet another flight for yet another destination, Shannon is offered an alternative: stay in Portland, Oregon, with her parents’ close friend and help his law firm investigate a group of strangers living near the local university. A will with a substantial inheritance is being contested, and Shannon’s task is to gather information on the unlikely recipients of the money.Using an assumed name and working as a waitress in a diner, Shannon finds herself entirely on her own for the first time in her life; and as the long summer days go by, she tries to sort out who she really is and what her future holds.Originally published in 1968 and newly released as part of Nancy Pearl’s Book Crush Rediscoveries, Greensleeves is a smart and timeless tale of how far people must go to find themselves.

Beat the Turtle Drum


Constance C. Greene - 1968
    "Here is a book to read and remember".--Publishers Weekly. "A touching, poignant story".--Booklist. An ALA Notable Book and an IRA-CBC Children's Choice.

Summer Lightning


Judith Richards - 1968
    Together they prowl the Everglades in search of rattlesnakes, epiphytes, and adventure until the law and a looming world war change their lives forever.The award-winning Summer Lightning has been reprinted in 15 languages since its first publication by St. Martin's Press.

The Least One


Borden Deal - 1968
    The Least One, published originally in 1967, portrays a white sharecropping family during the Great Depression and is based on Borden Deal’s experiences growing up on a small farm in northeastern Mississippi. “My own memory produced a flood of material,” said the author. “I remembered the loss of the farm, the day the sheriff had come to dispossess us; I remembered picking blackberries and selling them in town for a dime a bucket; I remembered the hope and promise of a government mule.”The story is told through the voice of a twelve-year-old, significantly called Boy Sword, and is set in a fictitious community that suggests the area of Cullman, Alabama. Deal portrays the realities of cotton-field work: planting, chopping, the laying-by time, and harvesting. He succeeds in evoking not only the crushing economic circumstances of poor Southern whites in that period but also their fierce sense of independence and self-sufficiency.

The Soul Brothers and Sister Lou


Kristin Hunter Lattany - 1968
    A fourteen-year-old girl tries to reconcile her dreams and hopes for the future with the harsh and often unpleasant realities of life in the African American section of town.

A Crack in the Sidewalk


Ruth Wolff - 1968
    It is Ted who threads her life with laughter and love. It is Ted who drifts away like smoke, with never a letter or a phone call to let her know where he is or when he is coming back ... And it is Ted who introduces her to Peter Lawrence.

Ship the Kids on Ahead


Bill Stokes - 1968
    State Journal