"'A beatnik family journey' is a coming of age novel set in the whorl of the early 1960s, when the first cracks in an idealized American life were revealing themselves. Kate, a resourceful eleven-year old girl craves home and security. Her mother Ellie falls in love with a Beatnik and adopts his alternative lifestyle in an attempt to create a new family unit. Hilarious, poignant and sad, the characters explore alternatives to conventional relationships and identities as they travel to places that are deeply affected by Cold War events"--Back cover.