The students of the 1960's challenged patriotism because they were being sent to a war in Vietnam that made no sense.
"The people in Vietnam had not threatened us. Our own government was threatening us," said author Patricia Hilliard.
One Pledge Unspoken is a fictionalized account of the author's experience as a high school student who protested the war.
The first draft of this book was written during the author's high school years. Later, when she was older and saw the political implications of the novel, she kept some of the original text written in her youth and polished the manuscript to include her better political and historical understanding.
"I wrote this book for young people to be able to make comparisons to their own struggles," says the author. "I also hope to remind my own generation of the promises made in our youth to oppose war and bring change to society. Our work is not yet done."
The author likes to use novel writing to raise political questions to make people think. The questions are not only about war, but also about democracy, the labor movement, about being female in this society and about life in the working class. There are some answers too, but you will figure those out as you read the book.
One Pledge Unspoken is about Elizabeth Ellen Anderson, a high school student who protests war during the 1960's. Growing up in a pro-union working class family, she struggles to understand the contradictions in society on such issues as war, racism and sexism while she attempts to exercise her democratic right to free speech.
Reviews of
One Pledge Unspoken:
Writer's Digest 11th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards:
"I was very captivated by the writing style and the sophisticated tone of the book. I think setting the story in the 60's is also such an interesting twist for a YA novel. ...the correlations of this time period are again upon us. ...This type of book carries the reader through similar situations and aids in the understanding of such modern concerns...the author has done a superb job creating her characters, most especially Bet while giving life and substance to the ancillary characters as well. ...Wonderful job on a very well-written and intense YA novel. This would make a strong candidate on any YA list."
MyShelf.com
"The reader will rejoice in the victories of these students, and feel their pain and their anxiety as they deal with the expectations of their parents, the pressures of school, and sexual relationships before abortion was legal, and birth control was not even discussed. In an era when politics belonged to men who were expected to go to war willingly as a sacrifice for government policies, and then to be the sole support for their families, and women were expected to work in the factory or get married, their destinies seemed to be sealed: change was difficult." --Beverly Row
Midwest Book Review
"One Pledge Unspoken is a powerful story, relevant for our troubled times and straight from her heart." --Whelan's Bookshelf
B-Independent.com
"One Pledge Unspoken" has to be one of the most interesting young adult novels I read since Robert Cormier. It is readable, entertaining, a little antagonizing, and in your face. Try it out." --Mike Purfield
In the early 1980's, the author led a union organizing drive at an insurance company. During the organizing drive, she learned a lot about the process people go through to obtain union recognition.
Working people first need to conquer their self-doubt, but this is difficult because the media makes working class people feel invisible. "We view our lives as meaningless and unimportant because we are not famous like actors or rock stars," says the author, "yet the people who get out of bed every day to do a boring job are the very people who keep the entire society functioning."
As much as working class people try to live up to the images in the media, the world of television is not a true reflection of people's real lives. The author hopes to use novels, to depict the world as it is experienced by working people. Today's workforce is made up of many nationalities and cultures. As workers, they will ultimately bond together to survive the attacks on their standard of living. This is the way working people have historically won victories against the corporations.
The author points out, "In my book, Making Changes, I am sharing what I learned." The reader should remember that every union organizing drive has its own conditions of development and its own unique outcome.
Making Changes, is a sequel to One Pledge Unspoken. The lead character of that book, Elizabeth Ellen Anderson, is now a young woman looking for a job. The economy is worsening, driving her to accept a position of low pay and tedious work at an insurance company. Her only hope of improving the situation is to initiate a union organizing drive. From the women workers around her, she must decide whom to trust and how to start. Making Changes is the novel to read if you've ever wondered what it is like to do union organizing.
Reviews of
Making Changes:
Writer's Digest 13th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards:
"...it is a facinating depiction of what women have to deal with in the workplace, and it appears to be a solid guide in a way to starting a union. Patricia Hilliard clearly writes with conviction -- the fact that she has been a union organizer contributes greatly to the verisimilitude of the novel. This is probably Making Change' greatest strength -- the authenticity of feeling behind it. It almost pulses with the sense that this material is important ... this is refreshing, given the number of books out there that have no passion behind them."
Contact the author for a free copy of this book for review purposes.
