A Century of Books: 1960-1969

A Century of Books: 1960-1969 is here!

If you missed the first 5 you can find them below. I don’t want you missing out on any of the great books of the century!

• A Century of Books: 1900-1919
• A Century of Books: 1920-1929
• A Century of Books: 1930-1939
• A Century of Books: 1940-1949
• A Century of Books: 1950-1959

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

Let’s jump in!

To Kill a Mockingbird follows the story of a young girl named Scout. We first learn that her brother had his arm broken and the book is the story of how that happens. 

It is set in the 60s in a small town in Alabama. Scout and her brother Jem and their friend Dill are always up to some crazy antics. Such as sneaking over to a spooky house that belongs to the Radley. They are scared away when Nathan Radley comes out of the house with a gun.

They are obsessed with the Radley house because rumor has it Boo Radley never leaves the house.

Their father, Atticus Finch is a lawyer and is well-loved by the town. When a black man named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a girl, Atticus is the lawyer on his side.

Jem and Scout and ridiculed because of their fathers position. Yet Atticus assures his kids that people are petty and don’t understand people’s circumstances.

Scout is obsessed with the trial because she loves her father and is curious about the fate of Tom. On the day of the trial, Scout sits with Calpurnia in the balcony and the rest of the black community. 

Although all evidence points to Tom’s innocence. The all-white jury convicts him. When he tried to escape from prison he is shot and dies.

Bob Ewell, the father of the allegedly raped girl, is angry with Atticus for standing up for Tom. This causes him to attack Jem and Scout after a Halloween play. Which is how Jem’s arm gets broken. 

They are saved by Boo Radley who has a fight with Ewell and fatally stabs him. Boo brings Jem and Scout home and Atticus covers for Boo by saying Ewell tripped and fell on his knife.

Scout learns many lessons during this time. She learns compassion and understanding for all people and embraces the lessons her father had been teaching her. 

Why is it important?

To Kill A Mockingbird is fundamental about learning about racism in the south. We see the ugly things that come from racist people and the outcomes that befalls them.

Many people disagree about this book being taught in classes because it is harsh. There is foul language but Lee just wrote what she had experienced.

It is also important to see the good in the town. Everyone looks to Atticus for help because he understands people.

If you want to learn more about Harper Lee’s life, you can find my post HERE!

Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut (1969)

This is a unique book because it isn’t linear. 

It follows Billy Pilgrim who lives in New York. He wants to go to Optometry school but is drafted into World War 2 instead. He trains as a chaplain’s assistant. Then he learns his father passed away just after he was shipped overseas.

Then he is thrown into the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium where he is taken prisoner by the Germans. 

During his sleep, his first instance of time shifting happens. He sees his entire life from beginning to end. 

When he comes back to reality. He has to watch as his friend Roland dies from gangrene. Roland believes he dies because of Billy and convinces Paul Lazzaro to take revenge on Billy by killing him.

The men are transported to the German city of Dresden. Billy and his fellow soldiers are imprisoned in an empty slaughterhouse. But when the bombings happen, some German guards hid with them men which lead to their release on V-Day.

Unfortunately for Billy, when he arrives and is discharged in the USA, he is diagnosed with PTSD. But even with that his life goes on. He marries, has two children and becomes a successful optometrist.

Years later on his daughter’s wedding night, Billy is abducted by aliens and brought to a faraway planet called Tralfamadore.

On this planet he is put in a type of zoo where he is supposed to mate with a woman the aliens also brought. Billy falls in love with this woman and after the birth of their child he is sent back to earth.

Some time after this, he crashes a plane in Vermont and is taken to the hospital. The same day, he wife crashes her car and dies of carbon monoxide poisoning. While in the hospital he meets a history professor and they discuss the bombing of Dresden.

After being in the hospital, his daughter takes him home to Ilium but he flees to NYC. He then goes on a talk show and explains his time on Tralfamadore but gets kicked out of the studio.  He returns to his hotel room, falls asleep, and time-travels back to 1945 in Dresden.

That is where the book ends.

Why is it important?

There is an underlining theme throughout this whole book. And perhaps it is the most important theme in all of literature.

It is hope. And hope is a very important thing to hold on to when times are hard. Without hope, there would be no reason to go on in turbulent times.

Billy didn’t loose hope on being liberated in Dresden. That is what he needed to survive.

The Outsiders by S.E Hinton (1967)

Ponyboy Curtis lives in a house with his two brothers, Darry and Sodapop, both older than him. They are the Greasers of the town and don’t get along with the Socs, who are the upper-class people.

One night, Ponyboy met up with Dally and Johnny at the drive in. Dally messes with two Soc girls. Cherry yells at Dally. Ponyboy eventually apologizes to Cherry and have a civil conversation with her.

Johnny, Ponyboy and Two-Bits, another Greaser, walk Cherry and Marcia home but are confronted by Cherry’s boyfriend Bob. To prevent another fight, she goes home with Bob.

When Ponyboy arrives home at 2AM, Darry is furious and after much yelling slaps Ponyboy who runs out to meet Johnny.

When they are surrounded by Socs, Bob and his friends try to drown Ponyboy but is saved after Johnny stabs and kills Bob.

They go to Dally who supplies them with some money and a gun and tell them to hide in an abandoned church. The boys stay in the church reading Gone With the Wind. Ponyboy cuts and dyes his hair as a disguise.

When Dally comes back for the boys, he tells them that war has broken out between the Socs and Greasers after Bob’s death. Both boys agree to turn themselves in and face the consequences.

That plan is put on hold when they must rescue a bunch of school children from the burning church. Ponyboy is knocked unconscious from the fumes but he and Dally come out safely. Johnny breaks his back after a piece of the roof falls on him.

Everyone goes to the hospital to visit the boys and Darry sobs over the though have losing Ponyboy.

The Socs and Greasers fight and after a long night, the Greasers come out victorious.

There is quite a bit of book left but it would be best not to spoil it for you all.

Why is it important?

This is a great book for kids to read because it shows that popularity doesn’t matter and being cruel only brings you down a worse path.

Ponyboy doesn’t have the cookie cutter family like other do. But he is surrounded by love and people who care about him.

Read more about the movie adaptation, HERE!

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1963)

This book is only 338 words.

Young Max dresses up as a wolf and makes a mess all over the house and doesn’t listen to his mother. This means he is sent to bed without dinner.

Then his room is transforms into a wild jungle and he sails to an island where beasts live called “Wild Things”. He intimidates the Wild Things and becomes king of them.

But he gets lonely and returns home even though the Wild Things don’t want him to.

When he returns to his bedroom, a warm dinner is waiting for him.

Why is it important?

This is such a good children’s book because it is reality and fantasy in it.

Many children’s books show children being disruptive and bad but don’t always have consequences. Max doesn’t listen to his mother and gets sent to his room without dinner. Which seems evil in a child’s mind.

It also teaches kids that they should use their imagination but sometimes it is better to come back to reality.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (1962)

Meg Murry is a thirteen-year-old girl who seems emotionally immature to her teachers and classmates. She lives at home with her mother, Katherine, who is a scientist, twin siblings, and Charles Wallace who is a kid genius. Her father is also a scientist but has been missing.

Meg, Katherine, Charles Wallace and their neighbor Mrs. Whatsit are having a conversation. When Mrs. Whatsit mentions the existence of the tesseract, Katherine almost passes out.

After some investigating, Meg finds out that her father was working on that concept when he disappeared. Then her, Charles Wallace and their friend Calvin venture to a mysterious house that turns out to be the home of Mrs. Whatsit and her friends Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which.

We later learn that Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which and Mrs. Whatsit are all supernatural beings and transport the three kids through the tesseract to Camazotz where Meg’s father is.

The kids must get to their father and defeat IT which is an evil disembodied brain who rules Camazotz.

Why is it important?

This is a story of growing up and taking chances in life.

We learn that Meg is emotionally immature but throughout the book we see less and less of that. She learns to step up and be the older sister to Charles Wallace and to help find her father.

Children like to identify with people their own age but they also like to see their favorite characters progress into the type of person they want to be.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (1969)

This book is difficult for many to read because of the struggles Maya Angelou went through.

It starts by introducing us to Marguerite, who goes by Maya. She is struggling because of racism in the southern United States. She and her older brother Bailey were abandoned by their parents and sent to live with their grandmother and Uncle.

Maya faces many different instances of racism such as not getting dental work done and relentless teasing from her peers.

At the age of 8, her father comes back and takes her and Bailey to St. Louis with their mother. Here Maya is sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. This sends Maya into despair and refuses to speak to most everyone even after returning to her grandmother’s home in Arkansas.

She is brought out of this when she meets Mrs. Bertha Flowers, who encourages her to read and learn in order to find her voice again.

Maya is sent again to her mothers home in California where she attends high school and studies dance and and drama on a scholarship. She then becomes the first black cable car conductor in San Fransisco.

Her time with her father taught her important life lessons such as driving a car and how to live when she had no home.

At the end of the book she is struggling with her sexuality. In her last year of high school and has sex with a teenage boy and gets pregnant. Taking Baily’s advice, she hides the pregnancy from her family.

The book ends with her giving birth.

Why is it important?

Similar to To Kill A Mockingbird, we get to see the effects of racism and hopefully have the desire to put an end to it. What Maya went through was awful but also eye opening to many people.

This story also has a message of hope because we see all these terrible things that happen to Maya yet we know this girl goes on to be an astounding writer.

Maya Angelou didn’t let her circumstances get in the way of her dreams.

In Conclusion

A Century of Books: 1960-1969 was one of the harder segments so far. Lots of books written in the 1960s tackled some very difficult subjects. Even 40 years later, people are still struggling. Although this world may never be perfect, there is always something we can do to help.

“The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn’t the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.” ― John Lennon