They write:
Two teens find the 1969 Woodstock music festival a life-changing event.
Michael, 18, knows what he doesn't want—to go to college or be drafted to fight in Vietnam—it's what he wants that confuses him, and would-be doctor Cora, 17, ponders transgressing cultural expectations for girls. Overcoming their inauspicious meeting in the medical tent, the two are drawn together—along with plenty of baggage. Michael drags his feet on breaking up with his hypercritical girlfriend. Cora longs to get over paternalistic Ned, who's broken up with her. Michael's passionate about music but feels like a slacker. Country girl Cora, unlike her brothers, has a nightly curfew and feels torn between her conservative father—proud veteran of two wars—and her anti-war siblings, one fighting in Vietnam. Not all that goes down is benign, but this is no cautionary fable. Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll unapologetically prevail amid the muddy chaos, where strangers feed one another, concertgoers stand in line for hours to use the payphone, and iconic musicians play generational anthems. Against a turbulent backdrop of war, divisive social change, and awful weather, half a million people celebrated peace, love, and music together. Woodstock remains a resonant cultural marker, documenting the brief triumph of hope over experience, and Tash takes ample advantage of the moment.
A positive portrait of a much-maligned era, this optimistic, exuberant tale is recommended for readers who've wondered why the '60s were so great.
Isn't that just kick-you-in-your-crotch, spit-on-your-neck fantastic?!
I'm really floored that the book received a starred review, but I'm most excited that how I felt about the story really seems to have come across to a reader. So much of writing is time spent in your head, and I think you can never truly objectively tell if you conveyed exactly what you meant to.
And while we're keeping this post all braggy, I wanted to share one more amazing blurb that Three Day Summer got from bestselling author Miranda Kenneally (Catching Jordan, Jesse's Girl)! Miranda has legions of fans (including me) for her amazingly realistic, complex, and oh-so-swoonworthy YA romances, so you can imagine how much these words meant coming from her:
Three Day Summer is not just a book—it’s an experience! It made me feel like I was at Woodstock surrounded by free love, music, and mud. I loved it—I couldn’t stop reading!
I'm going to sign off before my ego gets too inflated here. But Three Day Summer will be released in just a little over two months (May 19th), so I hope these reviews might have helped whet your appetite a bit! (And also for those of us in arctic regions, given you some hope that summer will actually come again...)
