Description
National Indie Excellence Awards, Finalist
Beverly Hills Book Awards, Winner
American Book Fest Fiction Awards, Finalist Hollywood Festival, Honorable Mention
“The ebb and flow between a nineteen-year-old’s mistakes, vulnerability, and surprising moments of insight ring achingly true. The Fourteenth of September is a moving tribute to lives altered by chance. The draft lottery and its rippling effects highlight a generation that came into adulthood amid devastating uncertainty.”
―Foreword Clarion Reviews
“It’s been said that in the anti-war movement of the 1970s, the men stormed the barricades and the women made the coffee. Rita Dragonette has written a strong-hearted and authentic novel about a naive young girl and her struggle to reconcile the dissonance between the world she sees and the world she was raised to believe in. Judy is truly a quiet hero; you won’t forget her.”
―Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Two if By Sea
“Rita Dragonette’s novel, The Fourteenth of September, reveals what I have known for a long while―that she is a writer of great talent and integrity who infuses this debut work with an energy and vision that lifts it far beyond the ordinary coming of age story. This is an important book, not to be missed.”
―Gary D. Wilson, author of Getting Right and Sing, Ronnie Blue
“The Fourteenth of September is a compelling, original book and a great read. It’s at once transporting to an incredible moment in recent history―the anti-Vietnam era of 1969-1970―and still distinctly modern, telling the story of a young woman finding her independence, her voice, and her place in the world. The author puts us squarely inside the head of Judy from the first page, and it is an unpredictable, emotional, and gripping ride through the end. The more you read, the more complex and interesting each character becomes, evolving from a gaggle of seemingly typical college students to a collection of fully-formed, deeply human, and truly unique individuals. This is a terrific book for anyone who enjoys American history, women’s lit . . . or simply a great story.”
―Josh Lohrius, author of The Breaking of Goody Boothe
“In The Fourteenth of September, Rita Dragonette transports readers to a college campus in the late ’60s where youth across America questioned the status quo and flunking out meant front lines. When Judy intentionally crosses the Tune Room in her faded jeans, she isn’t merely joining those who claim to rebel against authority for the collective good. Her journey represents the complexity of every generation’s timeless effort to align conscience with action. Dragonette’s debut novel, neither idealistic nor fatalistic, offers the unique perspective of a young woman facing her own private rebellion.”
―Elizabeth Wheeler, author of The Asher Trilogy
“Set in the months before and after the 1969 Draft Lottery, Rita Dragonette’s The Fourteenth of September tells the powerful story of Judy Talton, a young woman who must decide whether to risk her military nursing scholarship to protest the Vietnam War, which she has become convinced is morally wrong. Dragonette brilliantly depicts how the urgency of political commitment complicates the self-absorption of adolescence and the intense bonds of family, friendship, and love―often with devastating consequences. This is not only a novel for those of us who look back and marvel at the profound decisions we were called upon to make when we were so young, but for a whole new generation facing the crucial questions of a turbulent, changing world that will define them.”
―Barbara Shoup, author of Looking for Jack Kerouac, An American Tune, Night Watch, Faithful Women, Wish You Were Here, Vermeer’s Daughter, Stranded in Harmony, and Everything You Want
“Rita Dragonette’s debut novel gracefully and magnificently arcs the full distance between the deeply personal and the global. In its depiction of a seminal point in the history of our country―the deep divide over the Vietnam War that provided the backdrop for the seismic shift at the end of 1960s―her story paints a sharp portrayal of a place and time, while artfully tackling questions of universal significance: At what point must we find our own voice and speak up? How do we determine what is meaningful action and what is not? And how to we measure the need to act versus a personal cost to ourselves? In a novel that gathers momentum with each page, Rita Dragonette has given us a work of recent historical fiction with profound relevance for today.”
―Barbara Monier, author of You, In Your Green Shirt and A Little Birdie Told Me
“Meet Judy Talton, college student during some of the worst moments of the 1960s. Torn between her duty to country and her anti-war friends, between her family and her desire to make her own way, Judy embodies every conflict of that tumultuous era. Long after you finish the last page of this beautiful, tautly written novel, Judy Talton will echo in your memory.”
―Peter Golden, author of Nothing Is Forgotten
“This debut novel deftly captures a generation on the cusp of an uncertain future. The characters choices are difficult, their solutions complex. At times charming and funny, at others intense and heartbreaking, Dragonette depicts a complicated chapter in our history with precision and depth, and renders it with compassion, understanding, and grace.”
―Patricia Ann McNair, author of And These Are the Good Times
“This deeply felt novel took me back to the time when hopes of the future slammed up against the realities of war, and when the fate of young men was determined by a number in the Draft Lottery. It’s a re
