29th Street South: A Novel

Surfing at 29th Street was their haven from the turmoil of the times.

It was the Sixties, a time of war and revolution.

The nation was tearing itself apart.

The day Kennedy was shot would not only change history but Robbie Doyle’s life; the people he would meet that day would shape his future.

Sixteen-year-old Robbie’s life was already in chaos. His father had died suddenly of a heart attack. He and his mother had to move to a new town in Florida, where they went from living a middle-class life to living on Social Security.

Samantha and Nick, from the wrong side of things, would become Robbie’s best friends. Nick wanted to be something besides the toughest guy in school—Samantha, who had a talent for photography and dreamed of becoming a professional photographer.

Mr. Smith, his high school principal, was not what he seemed.

Maddy and Christie are a mother and daughter who would play a large part in his future. Christie, with her mother’s looks and confidence, was the school’s prima-donna and his high school crush.

Vietnam and the draft loomed over all their futures.

The one place Robbie, Samantha, and Nick could escape was surfing at 29th Street South in Cocoa Beach. They found peace and the time to answer the questions that the Sixties demanded: do Robbie and Nick let themselves be drafted, or do they forge their paths? How will Samantha deal with their decisions?

Follow Robbie and his friends Samantha and Nick from the day Kennedy was assassinated when they first meet, through the turmoil of those years, and finally, the effect Vietnam had on each of their lives. Coming of age in the Sixties was a time of difficult choices.

29th Street is an unforgettable novel about a time when individual decisions had lifelong repercussions.


Briefly, if you were to read just one book this year, make the book "29th Street South." I'm sure you will not regret it: Amazon reader.

It is much more than a piece of life combined with social commentary. The story beat like a heart: Amazon reader.

This book hooked me from the beginning: Amazon reader.

Absorbing characters and momentous events combine to reveal the depths of human struggles: Amazon reader.

This was one of the best books I have ever read: Amazon reader.