America Dreaming

December 1, 2007
Gr 9 Up-Hill opens with a discussion of how the size of the post-World War II baby boom, the rise of consumer culture, and the uniformity of suburbia caused many young people to question the institutions and assumptions of American life. He then uses excerpts from speeches, letters, music, poetry, and later reminiscences of the young protesters to illustrate their contributions to the Civil Rights, protest, counterculture, Black Power, women's liberation, American Indian, Hispanic, and environmental movements. The final chapter assesses the decade's legacy, concluding that the 1960s helped the nation learn an "important lesson" by exposing the "fault lines" in our society and broadening the national debate. The book's oversize layout evokes the period, with a variety of text fonts, archival photos, and graphic effects in psychedelic colors and styles. The bibliography includes a number of adult and academic titles and Web sites. Although Hill does explain how young people drove the protest and liberation movements of the 1960s, he does not always provide a coherent narrative structure for the primary sources or sufficient analysis to help students understand how the upheavals translated into permanent changes in American society and law. While titles such as Stuart A. Kallen's Life in America during the 1960s (Gale, 2001) provide more context and analysis for middle school readers, this book is a good supplemental choice for students who want to learn more about one of our most tumultuous decades through the words of the people who most influenced it.Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO

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