1968

by Karen Tei Yamashita

First published 2014

In 1968 San Francisco, students and laborers gather in Chinatown as the civil rights movement reaches its peak. Artists mix with revolutionaries while provocateurs stir up trouble on crowded streets. Political currents pull people in different directions as they fight for their beliefs and their community. Personal relationships strain under the weight of clashing ideologies. Young activists must choose between their individual desires and the larger cause. Workers face eviction from their homes while organizers plan protests and demonstrations. The characters find themselves swept up in forces bigger than themselves, struggling to maintain their connections to each other while the world around them transforms. Love and loyalty compete with political conviction as the movement demands sacrifices from everyone involved.

Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, activism

Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: found-family, political-conviction

Setting: Chinatown, San Francisco

Period: 1968

123 pages · Kindle Edition · Coffee House Press

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