The social issues of the time are worked in very cleverly through the experiences of the other children and include the 'hippie' counterculture, the conflict in Vietnam and its effect on the families whose sons were fighting, and the general change in the feeling in the world that is so evident in the evolution of the Beatles' music and wonderfully summed up by this line 'Psychedelic was part of the way the world was changing, and it made me feel nervous.' ( of the uncorrected advance proof.) This is a beautifully written and vivid paean to a bygone era that is ingrained in the public consciousness and needs to be explained to younger people. In everlasting middle school (or junior high) fashion, her friends are changing and developing interests that don't match hers. We have needed this book for a LONG time, and Hood includes so many details about modern day culture that I was definitely transported back to the summer of 1966.Trudy has a typical, middle class suburban lifestyle- the hard working, quiet father, the Arpege wearing mother who dabbles in reading The Feminine Mystique but still churns out meatloaf, and the bedroom with mint green dotted swiss and a record player. Strengths: While there are still students who adore the Beatles (my own daughter included!), I don't think they understand the real impact of the group on popular culture in the 1960s. As president of the FIRST fan club in Rhode Island, Trudy is sure that the group can manage to meet Paul, and soon finds out that her friends all have their own reasons for wanting to make a personal connection with the Fab Four. Trudy rallies the three remaining members- Jessica, Nora, and Peter- and uses the summer to obsess over the Beatles' music and make plans for the concert. There is a new girl in town, Penelope, who has moved from California and spells of Patchouli, and she claims that she is going to the concert with a high school boy, and they intend to take the bus and then the subway to the concert.

When her mother breaks her leg and has a cumbersome cast on her right foot, Trudy must reassess her strategies. Her father has to travel to Japan on business, but Trudy convinces her mother to drive her, and even gets her to practice, since driving stresses her out.

There's a brief moment of light- the Beatles are performing a concert in Boston, not too far from her home. Not only that, but a substitute teacher uses her real name, Gertrude, and people start calling her that all the time. Her best friend, Michelle, is morphing into a lipstick wearing, Twiggy haircut sporting cheerleader, her father is so involved in his work that he doesn't spend much time with her, and her Beatles' Fan Blub has gone from being the biggest group in the school to having only four members. It's 1966, and Trudy Mixer is having a hard time at the end of the school year.

She Loves You by Ann Hood