Critical Praise

“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

“A brilliant depiction of how the urgency of political commitment complicates the self absorption of adolescence. This is a novel for those who marvel at the profound decisions we were called upon to make so young, but also for a new generation facing the crucial questions of the turbulent world that will define them.”

—Barbara Shoup, author of LOOKING FOR JACK KEROUAC

“...beautifully written with compassionate and thoughtful narrative and engaging characters who play out all the angst of the era set on a Midwestern college campus when America was at its most vulnerable. Dragonette shows us what we can be, both in our best and our worst.”

—Windy City Reviews

“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, 4 out of 5 stars