World News from Waverley High

“This is a soulful coming-of-age novel with an unusually appealing, intelligent, and open-hearted narrator. Linda Kass tracks her protagonist’s political awakening with sensitivity and a sharp eye for detail, creating a compelling portrait of a young woman navigating her way through a turbulent era in American history.”—Tom Perrotta, author of New York Times bestsellers Ghost Town, Tracy Flick Can’t Win, The Leftovers, Little Children, and Election

“Readers of a certain age will relate to this re-creation of a truly unforgettable and double-edged era… . a barrage of nostalgia that hits its mark. Many of these Waverley High kids would be grandparents now, and it’s tempting to imagine how their grandchildren might be coping in this new millennium with its own heavy challenges. An earnest, meticulous reimagining of the late 1960s and the era’s tense atmosphere of social change.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Linda Kass’s powerful new novel, World News from Waverley High, not only captures the intensity of what it was like to be a teenager during the dawn of the 1970s living through earthquakes in the culture—while grooving to some of history’s best rock and roll—but also compels the reader to reflect on how the anxieties of then compare to the turbocharged anxieties of now. A stirring, thought-provoking read!”—Helen Schulman, author of Lucky Dogs and New York Times bestseller This Beautiful Life

“The characters in this bighearted novel set in a high school are trying to make sense of that astounding, magnetic, musical, and tumultuous decade known as The Sixties. Linda Kass orchestrates the telling of it all with eloquence and true tenderness.”—Wil Haygood, author of The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home and Tigerland: 1968–1969: A City Divided, a Nation Torn Apart, and a Magical Season of Healing

“Linda Kass masterfully transports us back in time while keeping us tethered to the fears, hopes, and quiet conquests known to young lives of every generation. This is a beautifully nuanced tale of what connects us throughout the ages.”—Connie Schultz, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author of The Daughters of Erietown

“Skilled author Linda Kass builds the pace with the fervor of events that happened in the spring of 1970. Her reporter’s background pays off in this story and the research is amazing. Read for the moments and stories it triggers in your own memory. Read it to remember and compare. Read it to see how far we’ve come… .”—Story Circle Book Reviews

“Remember what it was like when you were a teenager and your whole life, thrilling and frightening, was opening ahead of you? World News from Waverley High, with its fast-paced storyline and its nuanced treatment of time and place, will remind you. With a clear eye and sensitivity to all that presses down on her characters, Linda Kass has written a novel that resonates with the here and now.”—Lee Martin, author of The Evening Shades and Pulitzer Prize finalist The Bright Forever

“The times they are a-changin’. Linda Kass’s fourth novel is set during the 1969–70 school year—when tensions are running high over race relations, the war in Vietnam, drugs, and even rock ‘n roll. This glimpse inside Waverley High provides a wonderful time-capsule of these turbulent times and Kass’s focus on the music of the day provides a pitch-perfect soundtrack for this look back at a pivotal time in our nation’s history.”—Laney Katz Becker, author of In the Family Way

“… while readers familiar with the period will likely find value in the nostalgic look back, teenagers and young adults will also find much to savor in the book’s discussion of family dynamics, sibling relationships, first love, and morality.”—The Turned Page

“A heartwarming and thought-provoking glimpse of the life, music, and friendships of a promising teen reporter. Following Lena as she navigates and chronicles a world torn by racism, war, and unexpected tragedy offers a stark reminder that there is a common thread running through our society’s challenges—a thread that stretches far into our past.”—Ben Heckman, Library Director, Bexley Public Library

“Linda Kass takes readers on a journey through a turbulent year at Waverley High. Told through the perspective of a high school student, this novel is filled with the sights, sounds, and cataclysmic historical events of 1969–1970. Turning the pages takes you back to a time you may remember—or a time that needs to be remembered in vivid detail. Meet these characters and enter a period that changed American history forever.”—Pamela Klinger-Horn, event coordinator at Valley Bookseller and creator and host of Literature Lovers’ Night Out

Linda Kass began her career as a magazine journalist and correspondent for regional and national publications. Along with her forthcoming novel, World News from Waverley High (September 2026), she is the author of three previous works of historical fiction: Tasa’s Song (2016), A Ritchie Boy (2020), and Bessie (2023). A longtime civic leader, she is the founder and owner of Gramercy Books, an independent bookstore in Central Ohio. Linda lives in Columbus with her husband, Frank; they have four children, six grandchildren, and a labradoodle named Wally.

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