TOO BIG A STORM

Convincing characterizations highlight this exploration of the turbulent politics of 1969 and how they affect the lives of an 18-year-old girl, Brady, and her family and friends. Brady’s father died when she was a child, and her mother, an ex-nun turned psychiatric nurse, holds the family together on little money. Their first crisis is a visit from an FBI agent, who tells them that Brady’s brother Will has become an army deserter in Vietnam. Next, Brady’s new friend Sally tries to draw Brady into the hippie culture, then gets involved with violent radicals and disappears after a bombing. Brady finds love and solace with Mark, a Vietnam vet, while Sally goes underground. It’s a penetrating exploration of love and loss among people who can’t escape the tumult of their times. (Fiction. YA)