For most families, the 1960s were taboo. A news clip would flash on the screen, and a parent would change the channel or fall silent. Many grew up with a version of the Sixties that was more silent than storytelling, and that silence still shapes how they imagine the world today. Historical fiction books like “Change Is Going To Come,” which I wrote, help fill in those missing pieces. These books, including my own, give readers context and gentle detail that parents and grandparents often could not share or did not know how to explain.
The Sixties were hard to talk about for many parents because of trauma, fear, guilt, and grief from killings, the Vietnam War, and civil rights violence. Social rules also played their part, where families were told not to talk about politics to keep the peace and to respect older relatives by not asking difficult questions. More personally, the draft, protests, broken friendships, and religious or cultural pressure made memories even more painful. Only much later, in biography books, do many of these stories come to light, private struggles finally shared honestly and with care.
In the 1960s, television brought war, protests, and even funerals straight into living rooms. Children saw soldiers in battle, crowds marching, and leaders dead on the screen, often without any clear words from the adults around them. This created a “double reality”: the world on TV looked loud and dangerous, while the home stayed quiet and closed off. Many children were left to make up their own ideas about what was happening and what it meant. Later in life, historical books became one way to return to those televised moments with more context, more feeling, and a deeper understanding.
For many, growing up with silence about the Sixties has an emotional inheritance of quiet anxiety, confusion, and a “don’t ask” culture around politics and race. In place of actual stories, families sometimes pass down simple lines like “It was a simpler time” or “Everyone was supported,” which dims the fear, conflict, and hard choices of that decade. As a result, conversations between Boomers and younger generations can be tense or stuck: older adults may feel judged or misunderstood, while younger people may feel they get no clear or accurate answers. The gap is not only about facts but also about feelings that were never shared and questions that were never welcomed.
People often look to stories to understand a past they have either never experienced or only heard bits about at home. If you ask me, this was my inspiration too when I started writing this book. Historical fiction can put ordinary families into big moments, revealing how the headlines touched real kitchens, schools, and streets. They allow readers to feel their fear, hope, and doubt intimately. In different but connected ways, biography books open the door to private lives behind public events, showing hard choices, mistakes, and small acts of courage that the summary history leaves out. Together, such stories help people to see the Sixties with clearer eyes and fuller hearts.
The questions of the 1960s have not disappeared. Arguments over civil rights, voting rights, war, and generational protest still show up in today’s news and in many homes. There is a lot to learn from what parents and grandparents faced in that time: what they stood up for, what they stayed quiet about, what they now regret, and what they are still proud of. To break the old habit of silence, families can start gentle, honest conversations rather than avoiding complex topics. Reading historical fiction and biography books together, be it parent and adult child or within a book club, offers a safe way to open those conversations and listen to each other with more care.
A simple reading path could help readers looking for deeper themes. Set against the turbulent decade of the 1960s, my book examines how personal and political lives became intertwined during this chaotic time. It offers a heartfelt look at how families were torn apart by turmoil, uncovering the emotional and social struggles they faced amid the era’s broader political movements. As you read, consider those echoes of your own family story that are present and, perhaps more tellingly, what is absent. Note the times your parents or grandparents never spoke of, or scenes that strike with powerful familiarity.
My book, Change Is Going to Come, can serve as a gentle conversation starter with older relatives, helping everyone remember and reflect together. By familiarizing themselves with the era through some of the best historical fiction books and best biography books, readers will better understand both the history on the page and the quieter stories in their own family.
Final Thoughts
The Sixties, for better or worse, still shape how families think, feel, and argue today. In stories a child can read, simple and strong, we can see more than headlines or short family lines. Through historical fiction books and biographies, quiet rooms can be gently opened so that generations can share real memories, fears, and hopes together openly.
