Attracted to the book’s cover, I peeked into Learning to Hate expecting a nostalgia tour of San Francisco’s Summer of Love. There was a bit of scene setting in the Haight Ashbury environment, and a few memorable interactions between young reporter Jack and 60’s icon Dean. The main character seemed to grow more in touch with himself, sure of himself. Interested young adults may enjoy.

There’s something unnerving when books about a decade you are old enough to remember
In some distinct detail are now referred to as “historical fiction” and often written by people who weren’t even alive in the decade they are writing about. I don’t know how old the author is but from his photograph he looks like someone too young to have lived through the Summer of Love and remember it. For that reason, I approached reading this book with some trepidation.

I needn’t have, though. Whatever his age, Andrew Bardin Williams is an author who really knows the sixties hippie scene and it shows in the plot and characters he created in Learning to Haight. The story is told through the character Jack, a young reporter who is assigned to interview Dean Simmons, a hippie and former movie star in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Summer of Love. It’s a task far harder than Jack ever anticipated and he learns a lot about himself, other people, and life itself along the way as he pursues his story.

This is not your average YA book. Even though it’s fiction, it’s obviously the product of meticulous research by the author. Because of the way the author so capably sets the scene, at times I almost felt like I was in Haight-Ashbury watching the story unfold. Jack is an interesting multidimensional character yet is still in the process of finding out who he really is and who he wants to be. None of the characters are simple or easy. They are complex people with real life issues. The plot is interesting and well-paced.

No matter if you’re a high school student just looking for a good novel about the sixties or a baby boomer who lived through the era, I highly recommend this book.