About the Book:
Morgan is looking forward to junior high school and all the adventures it holds in store for her. But after a collision on the volleyball court, she wakes up on the first day of school trapped inside her mom’s teenage body circa 1974. It doesn’t take long for Morgan to discover that living life as a seventh-grader in the ‘70s and dealing with everything going on in her mom’s life back then — from uncool parents, to annoying older brothers, balancing friendships, and to ultimately doing what she can to survive bullying at the hands of the school’s biggest jock — is anything but groovy.
Take a trip back in time with @amandalauer23 and Anything But Groovy #catholicfiction #timetravel Click To TweetExcerpts:
When the last bell finally rang, I let out a drawn-out breath. Longest school day ever. Scrambling back to homeroom, we grabbed the clear bags and shoved our Math, Literature, Science and Social Studies books inside them. Between the four books, they must’ve weighed ten pounds. Juggling the bag in my arms, I exited the classroom via the back set of stairs that led to the front of the building. “Wait up!” Vicky hustled to catch me on the steps. “Hey, Vicky.” “Not too bad of a start today, huh?” Easy for her to say. She hadn’t woken up in someone else’s body, been laughed at by a group of snotty girls for wearing the same shirt that one of them had on, or been humiliated by the class jock, twice at that.
***
After enough time perched on the wooden phone bench, I tested to see if the curly phone cord was long enough to get out of earshot of Grandma. She putzed around the kitchen, no doubt listening to every word of our conversation. Couldn’t get any further than the den. So much for that. By now, the phone was so warm it was burning my ear. And they say cell phones are bad for your health? “Hey, Vicky, gotta go. My mom needs something.” “That’s fine. I’ll see you at my house in the morning. Quarter-to-eight?” “Sure. See you then.” I hung the phone up, grabbed my books off the kitchen table and started the trek through the dining room and family room to get to the stairs. “What exactly do I need, Ally?” Busted. I sheepishly pivoted to address Grandma, who was sitting in the chair Mom usually occupied at the dining room table. One glance, and I froze. A cigarette dangled from her lips. Lit. Inside the house. Maybe Grandma was the one with a head injury. She hadn’t smoked since before I was born. “What the heck are you doing?” She took a drag and stamped out the cigarette in a gold ashtray. “That’s what I was going to ask you.” My eyes as big as saucers, I backed slowly away from her. Making it to the family room, I took off for the stairs, streaking up to the second floor. Racing down the hall, I stumbled into my room and slammed the door shut behind me. Get me the heck out of here!
Advance Reviews:
“Anything But Groovy takes us all back to better times. And for me that was worth the read alone. Every page resonated with me. Amanda Lauer has done an amazing job of creating a time that many lived through. So wonderfully done that you felt as if you were there. I can’t say enough about this story. So wonderful. So unique. By the end, I didn’t want to come back to 2020. My highest praise!”
Cary Solomon writer/director/producer of Unplanned, God’s Not Dead and other award-winning films
“This is a fun time-travel book for any age. Baby boomers: it’s nostalgic looking back. Kids: interesting to see what life was like for parents or grandparents.”
R. Forrest, Amazon Reviewer
“I’ve been a fan of author Amanda Lauer for quite a while. Her captivating writing completely immersed me in the Civil War through her Heaven Intended series. So, I was thrilled to discover she had a new novel in the works. This time Lauer brings her writing talents to a more contemporary story. Lauer expertly captures the details of the ’70s in this coming-of-age novel with an intriguing Freaky Friday-type of storyline.
No matter what era we grow up in, there are certain issues that all teens must deal with—families, friendships, and bullying. While technology and circumstances change, relationship fundamentals remain the same. I thought this glimpse into a parent’s childhood was such a clever way to explore the walking-a-mile-in-another’s-shoes theme. This book might be a fun one for mothers and daughters to enjoy together while sharing the differences and similarities of their own childhoods.”
Leslea Wahl, Catholic Teen Books author
My Review:
Using a Freaky Friday-type premise, Amanda Lauer takes the reader back in time to the 1970s, where she can experience all the groovy and not-so-groovy elements of growing up in bell bottoms, eating Spam sandwiches, and more.
My memory goes back to the mid- to late-’70s, and so many details shared made me smile or recall a product or way of doing things that I’d nearly forgotten. Those details are fun for middle-aged readers but can also be amusing or eye-opening for young readers.
Whatever the decade, people and relationships remain much the same, and readers of any age can relate to the parent, sibling, and friend dynamics in Anything But Groovy – even, unfortunately, the bullying.
Move over Brady Bunch, for an experience that’s true to the decade that brought us disco.
Author Interview:
What was the inspiration for Anything But Groovy?
I was inspired to write Anything But Groovy because I have vivid memories of my growing up years in the 1970s and wanted to craft a story about how someone back then was able to overcome adversity during her junior high school years. This evolved from a memoire to a time-travel story because I wanted this to be a book that would be enjoyed equally by teens in this day and age and those people who were children of the ‘60s and ‘70s.
This book is very different from your previous books (Heaven Intended Series: historical romance) because it’s a time travel book set in current times and in the 1970s. Are the characters based on real people and is this story based on actual events that happened? Or are the characters and events mostly fictional?
Like any book I write, characters are based loosely on people that I’ve known throughout my lifetime. The events are based in part on things that I experienced in my growing up years. That being said, I’ll stick with the disclaimer from the front of the book: This book is a work of fiction. Although the setting for this novel takes place in the 1970s, some of the names, characters and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Real events and characters are used fictitiously.
I really enjoyed the TV, music, toy and food references that really transport the reader back to those days. Do you have a great memory or did you use a diary/journal to write about all those ’70s references?
Thank you, I enjoyed reliving the pop-culture references myself! (Man, we watched a lot of TV, considering we only had three channels to choose from!) I do have my diaries from my growing up years, but, to be honest, I did not reference even one of them when writing the book. For some reason, my experiences from my junior high years are seared into my brain. Maybe I tucked them away because I knew in my heart that some day I’d write a book about that critical time in my life.
What do you hope the reader will take away from reading Anything But Groovy?
I hope this book will be an enjoyable blast-from-the-past for people who lived through those years, an eye-opening read for teens in this day and age to see what life was like for their parents and grandparents growing up in the “Wonder Years,” and that this will be a book that different generations will read together to create some conversations about the joys and challenges of growing up, no matter in which era.
The Blog Tour:
March 15 Barb S @ Franciscan Mom
March 16 Ellen Gable @ Plot Line and Sinker
March 17 Jim Sano @ jimsano.com
March 18 Amanda @ A World Such as Heaven Intended
March 19 Sarah Reinhard @ Snoring Scholar
March 20 Carolyn Astfalk @ My Scribbler’s Heart Blog
About the Author:
In addition to writing novels, Amanda works in the film industry writing and copy-editing screenplays. She was awarded Best Writer 2020 (Red Letter Awards) for her work as a co-writer on the movie The Islands.
When she’s not at her computer writing, Amanda enjoys spending time with her family which includes John, her husband of 40 years, children Stephanie, Nicholas, Samantha and Elizabeth and their significant others, and seven of the most amazing and adorable grandchildren ever!
Links:
Blog: https://aworldsuchasheavenintended.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amanda.p.lauer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amandalauer23
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/allauer/_saved/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandapurcelllauer/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Lauer/e/B00O98J5FK/
THANKS FOR STOPPING BY! STAY A WHILE AND LOOK AROUND. LEAVE A COMMENT. SHARE WITH A FRIEND. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR MY AUTHOR NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON NEW RELEASES, EXTRAS, AND HOT DEALS!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.