Teen Spirit, Secrets, and Rock ’n’ Roll: Enid Langbert’s YA Debut Revisits 1950s Rebellion in All Shook Up

A Journey of Rebellion, Friendship, and Self-Discovery

CA, UNITED STATES, July 24, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Author Enid Langbert makes a striking debut in young adult fiction with All Shook Up: A Novel, a poignant coming-of-age story set in the culturally explosive landscape of 1956 America—a time of teenage rebellion, shifting values, and the electrifying rise of rock and roll. With heart, depth, and a clear eye for generational complexity, Langbert invites readers into the world of Paula Levy, a teenage girl caught between the silence of her parents’ past and the roar of a new cultural era.

For fourteen-year-old Paula, life in postwar New York is anything but ordinary. Her mother’s youth was shaped by the Great Depression, her father’s by the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust—an event still unnamed in their household. No one talks about it. Instead, Paula finds solace in the new rhythms of American life: the wild energy of Elvis Presley, the honest cynicism of Holden Caulfield, and the thrill of forbidden friendship.

When Paula connects with Barbara—a rebellious, charismatic classmate who shares her love for The Catcher in the Rye—a secret friendship blooms. But their bond strains under the weight of hidden family truths, adult expectations, and their growing need for freedom. When Paula asks too many questions about her father’s past, and Barbara’s own secrets come to light, their once carefree world begins to crack.

Together, the girls take a bold step: they run away in search of Barbara’s long-lost father, a jazz musician she believes will rescue them from the stifling roles they’ve inherited. What they find instead is a journey that challenges their ideals and shapes their understanding of identity, resilience, and the meaning of belonging.


About the Author:

While Enid Langbert’s own teenage years weren’t as rebellious as Paula’s, her passion for justice and expression came alive in the 1960s. A veteran of civil rights and anti-war protests, Langbert raised three children before becoming an attorney, dedicating her career to advocating for others. In recent years, she returned to her first love—literature—and is currently writing her master’s thesis on James Joyce and Finnegans Wake. She lives and writes in New York City.

With All Shook Up, Enid Langbert delivers a timeless and resonant story that will speak to anyone who has ever questioned the rules, clung to art for survival, or longed to understand the silences in their family’s past.

📚 All Shook Up: A Novel is available now at major book retailers.

🔗 Learn more: www.enidlangbert.com/about

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Enid Langbert's Global Book Network TV Interview with Logan Crawford!

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