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The Jeeptown Sock Hop
If you ever wondered why your parents or grandparents never turned out like the folks in Norman Rockwell paintings, this is the story for you. From its dedication to children who were sexually abused by trusted adults to its shocking climax, The Jeeptown Sock Hop paints a bittersweet picture of the 1950s. Bitter because of the racial and class divide that tortures the gritty industrial town, but sweet because of the tender first love that sprouts between Charlie and Clarice, two gutsy teens who live on opposite sides of the racial chasm.
They form a dance band and organize a sock hop that they hope will finally bring black and white teenagers together. But, unknown to Clarice, Charlie struggles with a demon, his raging obsession for vengeance against the man who sexually molested him. Just as they bring their sock hop plans to the verge of success, Charlie’s need for revenge erupts, and their dream explodes.
No longer young, the two lovers meet again decades later to make sense out of the events that scarred their lives so many years earlier. This is the 1950s as they’ve never been show.
They form a dance band and organize a sock hop that they hope will finally bring black and white teenagers together. But, unknown to Clarice, Charlie struggles with a demon, his raging obsession for vengeance against the man who sexually molested him. Just as they bring their sock hop plans to the verge of success, Charlie’s need for revenge erupts, and their dream explodes.
No longer young, the two lovers meet again decades later to make sense out of the events that scarred their lives so many years earlier. This is the 1950s as they’ve never been show.
302 pages, Paperback
First published September 20, 2011
2 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
John Harrigan
3 books15 followersJohn grew up in Toledo, Ohio, the son of Jack, a janitor in the Toledo public schools and Mary, a home maker who worked a stint during WWII as a technician in the Willy’s Overland Jeep factory. John was the middle of five children. He graduated from Central Catholic High School. His earliest jobs were gas station attendant, bus boy, factory worker, installer for the telephone company, and postal service letter carrier. He attended college, thanks to the GI Bill which he received after two years in the U. S. Army, graduated from Loyola University of Chicago, and earned a Masters Degree in International Relations from the University of Chicago.
He passed the Foreign Service exam and became a Foreign Service Officer for the U. S. Information Service where he served at the U. S. Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He became enamored with Brazil. Two of his children were born there, he spoke Portuguese fluently, and he made many Brazilian and American friends, some of whom he still remains in contact with today. It is impossible to stress how exciting Rio was for a young person in those days, and if he had had any idea how to support his family there in the local economy, he would gladly have stayed there after his tour of duty was up.
John’s next Foreign Service assignment was to be a regional public affairs officer in Vietnam, and he still retains the almost-surreal letter from the Far East desk officer welcoming him to that assignment. Dated Feb 17, 1966 when Vietnam had been a major war zone for almost a year, the letter waxes eloquently, “Viet Nam is still a remarkably pleasant and approachable country, and will remain so in future years.”
For better or for worse, he sidestepped that opportunity and moved to graduate school at Georgetown University where he earned a Ph.D. in Political Science in 1970. He spent the next thirty years at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he chaired the department for several years, served as Assistant Dean of Liberal Arts for a year, chaired the committee that created Hamline’s graduate program in Public Administration, and wrote several books. For several years, he was very active in Minnesota politics and was elected to the School Board of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He served three years, during which his major achievement was to discover that he did not have the temperament to be a politician.
Thanks to royalties from his textbooks and some lucky investments, John was able to retire from teaching in 2000. Since then, he has rekindled an earlier passion for fiction and has published two novels. The Patron Saint of Desperate Situations (2007) is a mystery built around the plane crash that killed Paul Wellstone, and The Jeeptown Sock Hop (2011) is a bittersweet portrait of the 1950s. A third novel is in preparation. On a regular basis he also makes presentations for the Great Decisions program of the Foreign Policy Association, teaches courses for the University of Minnesota’s elder program, and manages his family’s retirement portfolios. If his grandchildren are lucky and the world economy doesn’t collapse, there might be enough in those portfolios to give them each a semester or two of college.
He has three adult sons from a marriage that failed in 1977. He married Sandy Ferguson in 1980 and they had one son. Sandy and John live in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, a first-ring suburb of St. Paul and an ideal location for someone seeking an active retirement. Within a twenty-minute walk are drug stores, supermarkets, hardware stores, a good public library, restaurants, book stores, major bus lines, and an abundance of welcoming coffee shops that have no objection to a grey-haired guy sitting there for hours at a time drafting another chapter for some novel.
John’s wife Sandy spent most of her adult life as a Child Protection Worker in St. Paul. She was a strike captain when the county workers went on strike in the 1990s. In 1995 she got breast cancer and sus
He passed the Foreign Service exam and became a Foreign Service Officer for the U. S. Information Service where he served at the U. S. Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He became enamored with Brazil. Two of his children were born there, he spoke Portuguese fluently, and he made many Brazilian and American friends, some of whom he still remains in contact with today. It is impossible to stress how exciting Rio was for a young person in those days, and if he had had any idea how to support his family there in the local economy, he would gladly have stayed there after his tour of duty was up.
John’s next Foreign Service assignment was to be a regional public affairs officer in Vietnam, and he still retains the almost-surreal letter from the Far East desk officer welcoming him to that assignment. Dated Feb 17, 1966 when Vietnam had been a major war zone for almost a year, the letter waxes eloquently, “Viet Nam is still a remarkably pleasant and approachable country, and will remain so in future years.”
For better or for worse, he sidestepped that opportunity and moved to graduate school at Georgetown University where he earned a Ph.D. in Political Science in 1970. He spent the next thirty years at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he chaired the department for several years, served as Assistant Dean of Liberal Arts for a year, chaired the committee that created Hamline’s graduate program in Public Administration, and wrote several books. For several years, he was very active in Minnesota politics and was elected to the School Board of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He served three years, during which his major achievement was to discover that he did not have the temperament to be a politician.
Thanks to royalties from his textbooks and some lucky investments, John was able to retire from teaching in 2000. Since then, he has rekindled an earlier passion for fiction and has published two novels. The Patron Saint of Desperate Situations (2007) is a mystery built around the plane crash that killed Paul Wellstone, and The Jeeptown Sock Hop (2011) is a bittersweet portrait of the 1950s. A third novel is in preparation. On a regular basis he also makes presentations for the Great Decisions program of the Foreign Policy Association, teaches courses for the University of Minnesota’s elder program, and manages his family’s retirement portfolios. If his grandchildren are lucky and the world economy doesn’t collapse, there might be enough in those portfolios to give them each a semester or two of college.
He has three adult sons from a marriage that failed in 1977. He married Sandy Ferguson in 1980 and they had one son. Sandy and John live in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, a first-ring suburb of St. Paul and an ideal location for someone seeking an active retirement. Within a twenty-minute walk are drug stores, supermarkets, hardware stores, a good public library, restaurants, book stores, major bus lines, and an abundance of welcoming coffee shops that have no objection to a grey-haired guy sitting there for hours at a time drafting another chapter for some novel.
John’s wife Sandy spent most of her adult life as a Child Protection Worker in St. Paul. She was a strike captain when the county workers went on strike in the 1990s. In 1995 she got breast cancer and sus
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 11, 2025
Told from the point of view of teenager, Charlie Parnell, this gritty coming of age story brings to life the tumultuous landscape of the 1950's. JJ Harrigan skillfully weave multiple threads into the story of one boy's struggle to navigate the issues of the day (racial tensions, family stresses, moral issues, and the Korean war) all while trying to fulfill his own desire to bring his different friends together. A powerful and engaging read!
December 4, 2025
I was provided a copy by the author for an honest review. Once I started reading, I could barely put it down. This ‘slice of life’ from 1950s Jeeptown addresses morality, race, and sex through teenager Charlie Parnell’s experiences; issues that persist today. An honest and daring story by JJ Harringan.
-Thekla Madsen, co-author of the Detective Nicholas Silvano Crime Thiller series
-Thekla Madsen, co-author of the Detective Nicholas Silvano Crime Thiller series
May 8, 2021
I didn’t grow up in the 50’s, but this book really seems to put you in that time and place.
Charlie is a teenager growing up in a 50’s industrial town. His closest friend is James, a black boy who shares his paper route and lives just a few blocks over in a constantly changing neighborhood. The title of this book suggests this book is about a small-town dance. It’s a lot more than that, as these families are dealing with economic difficulties in this factory town and the Korean War as well. Charlie’s father is a World War II vet with a medal who doesn’t want his son (Charlie’s brother) to be forever changed by war the way he was – especially for a war that doesn’t seem to matter.
I think it’s because Charlie’s character feels so likeable and real that
makes this more than just a historical or a “coming of age” novel. He’s open-minded and willing to take a stand for what he believes in, but not saintly or naïve. He falls for Clarice, James’ sister, but he always knows he’s never going to be allowed to date a black girl. He tries to bring his friends together, but he isn’t trying to change the world. He’s just dealing with his own life.
Harrigan can be accused of dealing with too much in this book, but I think what’s nice is that his world isn’t black and white. His characters deal with (and have) religious, racial, ethnic and gender prejudices, and even those prejudices have layers. A major storyline in this book deals with sexual abuse and the shame and trauma that follows. I have no expertise in this area, but Harrigan seems to address this subject thoughtfully and realistically.
My only complaint about this book is that something about the ending didn’t work for me. The end felt rushed, not adequately led up to or described. It just happens.
Note: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an objective review. The full review can be found here: http://thebookstop.wordpress.com/2013...
Charlie is a teenager growing up in a 50’s industrial town. His closest friend is James, a black boy who shares his paper route and lives just a few blocks over in a constantly changing neighborhood. The title of this book suggests this book is about a small-town dance. It’s a lot more than that, as these families are dealing with economic difficulties in this factory town and the Korean War as well. Charlie’s father is a World War II vet with a medal who doesn’t want his son (Charlie’s brother) to be forever changed by war the way he was – especially for a war that doesn’t seem to matter.
I think it’s because Charlie’s character feels so likeable and real that
makes this more than just a historical or a “coming of age” novel. He’s open-minded and willing to take a stand for what he believes in, but not saintly or naïve. He falls for Clarice, James’ sister, but he always knows he’s never going to be allowed to date a black girl. He tries to bring his friends together, but he isn’t trying to change the world. He’s just dealing with his own life.
Harrigan can be accused of dealing with too much in this book, but I think what’s nice is that his world isn’t black and white. His characters deal with (and have) religious, racial, ethnic and gender prejudices, and even those prejudices have layers. A major storyline in this book deals with sexual abuse and the shame and trauma that follows. I have no expertise in this area, but Harrigan seems to address this subject thoughtfully and realistically.
My only complaint about this book is that something about the ending didn’t work for me. The end felt rushed, not adequately led up to or described. It just happens.
Note: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an objective review. The full review can be found here: http://thebookstop.wordpress.com/2013...
December 17, 2012
Set in the 1950s in the Midwest this story centers around a boy who is going through a lot. His brother is off to Korea, his dad’s union is on strike, and his best friend is black. All he really wants to do is play music with his friends, and show that an integrated band can work, but so much of life gets in the way.
It seems like I haven’t read a recent historical book in a while. So this was a great change from some of the other books I’ve been reading. Since it was a genre I don’t read a lot of, I was worried the story would be slow and it would take me a while. But this book caught me right away and I felt like it read at a great pace. I loved the setting, the time period and everything going on at that time. I really felt for Charlie, he is a character who is hard not to like. I could feel his anger for Mr. Jackson, and even though he wasn’t always sure about the details of the strike I really liked how he stood by his father. All the characters seemed very genuine and real. This book was sad, and happy, and sad again but I enjoyed it the whole way through.
I thought this was an interesting look at a different time of union strikes and how it really affected families back then. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants a good down to earth book about normal kids growing up in the 50s. It reads pretty fast and I think it is a nice book to mix into a diverse to be read pile.
For a more in depth and personal review see my blog:
http://explanniefyfed.blogspot.com/20...
It seems like I haven’t read a recent historical book in a while. So this was a great change from some of the other books I’ve been reading. Since it was a genre I don’t read a lot of, I was worried the story would be slow and it would take me a while. But this book caught me right away and I felt like it read at a great pace. I loved the setting, the time period and everything going on at that time. I really felt for Charlie, he is a character who is hard not to like. I could feel his anger for Mr. Jackson, and even though he wasn’t always sure about the details of the strike I really liked how he stood by his father. All the characters seemed very genuine and real. This book was sad, and happy, and sad again but I enjoyed it the whole way through.
I thought this was an interesting look at a different time of union strikes and how it really affected families back then. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants a good down to earth book about normal kids growing up in the 50s. It reads pretty fast and I think it is a nice book to mix into a diverse to be read pile.
For a more in depth and personal review see my blog:
http://explanniefyfed.blogspot.com/20...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews