Cultural Casebook: Counter Culture Kids

I just found a small gem in my local library. Wild Child: Girlhoods in the Counterculture, is a collection of memoirs written by women who grew up in hippie families.

"Tofu casseroles, communes, clothing-optional kindergarten, antiwar protests — these are just a few of the hallmarks of a counterculture childhood. What became of kids who had been denied meat, exposed to free love, and given nouns for names? In Wild Child, daughters of the hippie generation speak about the legacy of their childhoods."

The stories, collected by Chelsea Cain, describe a winsome existence, all too often underpinned by insecurity, neglect, and even outright abuse. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the childhoods of the current 40 - 50 somethings who grew up in the counter-culture of the 70's in California and elsewhere.