"The Tu-Tone DeSoto" is a fast-paced novel centering on the lives of eight Hanson, Iowa, high school teens during the Kennedy administration and Cold War years of the early 1960s. They are living in conflict with the mindsets of their parents through a generation gap destined to become an incendiary turning point in future years.
The teens' internal concerns take precedence over more worldly events as they naively mature into adulthood. Julie Maxwell elopes with her boyfriend, Beau Harper, who joins the navy. Connie Mueller is the best friend of Penny, Julie's younger sister. They find their maturity at the expense of their relationship, placing Connie at odds with her dysfunctional parents. Miscreant John Bass has lived a wasted life. Michael Hendricks, looking for identity through the torment of dyslexia and poor grades, faces a bleak future. Regina, Reverend Thomas Barragan's daughter, creates the formula for her imminent destruction. Daniel is the son of Roger Lilienthal, a renowned sociologist from Chicago, and has grown up before his time at the cost of his youth. He is faced with the perplexity of coming to terms with being gay during a time of cultural change--a time in which a generation of baby boomers is being defined and is coming of age. ​
The story revolves around the history of the early 1960s and the years during the John F. Kennedy Presidency. Topics featured include: The Kennedy Inauguration, and the promise of a vital new generation; the sociological and cultural shift from complacency to conflict; the music of the time and AM radio; The Cuban Missile Crisis and the JFK assassination. Being a work of historical fiction, there is a robust, date-by-date summation of the real events occurring during the the story. Also, there is a suggested playlist of the songs in the story during this transformation into the rock culture.