Customer Reviews

Caller Number Nine

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I enjoyed this book, the author did much research for 1967. A time of the Vietnam War, the draft and Martin Luther King Junior. A time before cell phones and 9/11. A interesting story of an adventure of a thirteen year old girl in very changing times.

From the electric feeling of dialing the phone trying to win a contest, to the warm, smooth feeling of baking in the sun trying for the Perfect Tan, Ms. Duncan just nailed MY experience of being a young teen in the late sixties. I remember the cool DJ's and the Dance Show we all lived to watch. And I remember feeling like I didn't belong....and then suddenly, surprisingly, I DID belong to the "In Crowd". The teen emotions in this book are only part of the story though. Ms. Duncan weaves in the emerging social awareness that excited us and invited us to take part in making the world a better place. This book would be a fun way for young readers to learn about that important time in our history. And the core emotions expressed are universal, so today's young readers will see themselves in Laura and her friends. I love that she included her 'playlist' -- I do hope her young readers will take the time to listen to those great tunes as well.

Ms. Duncan manages to pack a lot of MY memories into this well-written book. I too grew up in those intoxicating days of California sunshine & AM radio, not realizing that we were all teetering on the crest of a giant wave of change. Suddenly young people were questioning authority(!) and by doing so, set America up for a major paradigm shift. Sounds heavy, but this book manages to tell one young girl's story in a light-hearted, fun but very informative way. A great read!

Caller Number Nine is full of girl power, historical accuracy and important family issues like sibling rivalry.
I can't wait until my daughter is old enough to read this terrific middle grade book!