Terri W. (txhockeymom) - , reviewed on 11/5/2008 + 33 more book reviews

The year is 2022. It is over 50 years since the summer of love. So what has happened to the flower children/hippies? A bunch of them are in an "old folks home" near San Francisco at the mercy of a cruel establishment - corrupt conservators, a sadistic administrator, a doctor compelled to keep them drugged up and compliant, and children who think it is better for mom or dad to be put away where they "can't hurt themselves". Then there is a revolt, and the former children of the '60s put all of their civil disobedience and anarchy skills to good use.

There are lots of laughs in this book, but I found it more poignant than funny. For instance: "Rocky thinks about how arrogant they were back then, she and Grace and the whole tribe, how they knew old people were wrong and what the kids were doing was right and that it would never end. Of course, here they are, fifty-five years down the road, doing the same damn thing, so on one level it had lasted, in a twisted way. The difference is the love children never expected to grow old. Rocky supposes no one expects to grow old, but the children of the '60s were worse than other generations. Old age came as such a shock. You'd think sooner or later someone would tell the young what to expect and the young would listen. But then what? The social contract would crash and burn if the young knew what was in store for them."

Yes, there are laughs. There is irony. But there are also many touching moments, too.

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