Publisher's Synopsis
Bicentennial Summer is a Young Adult summer romance about small town friends trying to navigate love, loss, and the angst of being teenagers. A journey of self-discovery will test their friendships in this coming of age romance set during America's 1976 Fourth of July bicentennial.
Advanced praise for Bicentennial Summer:"Bicentennial Summer is everything I want in a small town coming-of-age story; sweet, melancholy, and as Proustian as the smell of cornfields in July. Chris Poore is a welcome new voice in midwestern fiction." - Sean Doolittle, Device Free Weekend "With prose that pops like gravel against the wheel wells of a pickup, Chris Poore's Bicentennial Summer harnesses nostalgia without blunting the pain of youth's abrupt end. This world feels as real as the town right outside my window." - Chris Harding Thornton, Pickard County Atlas and Little Underworld "Outstanding, can't-put-down debut! Bicentennial Summer weaves a tale of lost innocence, young love, and even stronger friendships." - Emersyn Park, He Loves Me, She Loves Me Not Back Cover Blurb:
Cole doesn't know if this is love; he's never been in love before. What he knows is these feelings for Tiffany are new, and they're not going away. The burning in his gut, the flutter in his heart, the chill every time he sees her. If these are the first sparks of love, Cole needs to find out, and he needs to find out soon. Tiffany and Cole are as close as two friends can be without sharing blood. And with Tanner faithfully by their side, the pair makes three. Best friends since birth, they grew up in a small town sharing skinned knees, peanut butter sandwiches, and first kisses. But as they prepare to celebrate America's 200th birthday during the summer of their sophomore year, they'll find storm clouds on the horizon. The carefree days of childhood will fade away as a tragedy exposes family secrets. And outside forces will threaten to tear the friends apart. They will have to rely on one another as their community tells them who to be and how to live. And hard lessons about love, responsibility, and family will have to be navigated if they hope to save their Bicentennial Summer. Bicentennial Summer is vol. 1 of The Cottonwood Chronicles series. Set over consecutive summers, vols. 2-3 (due 2025-26) will revisit Cole, Tiffany, Tanner, and the people of Cottonwood, Neb. About the Author:
Chris Poore has been telling stories in one form or another his entire life. It just took a global pandemic to finally get him to put them down on paper. A dinner conversation at the height of the Covid pandemic lit the spark, and Chris quickly wrote several award-winning screenplays. Next, he set his sights on his first novel. Bicentennial Summer, published in 2024 at age 53, is the first in the three-book Cottonwood Chronicles series. Books two and three will publish in 2025-26. Chris has been a journalist, entrepreneur, and a technology leader. He lives just outside of Omaha, Nebraska, with his wife Sue, two children, and two rescue dogs. Learn More:
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