Times... They Are A Changin'
Some stories aren’t about changing the world. They’re about growing up inside it.
In small-town East Texas, Bobby Gunkel grows up in a world that feels simple, steady, and certain—until it isn’t.
When he meets Brenda, a girl who lives just beyond the edge of his everyday life, something shifts. What begins as childhood friendship slowly deepens into first love, carrying them through the awkward beauty of adolescence, family struggles, heartbreak, and the quiet chaos of a country undergoing massive change.
As the civil rights era reshapes America in the background, Bobby and Brenda are forced to confront not just who they are together—but who they’re becoming apart.
Some loves define a moment. Others define a lifetime.
Paperback / Hardback
Books and E-Books
America was changing.
The Second World War had ended. Prosperity was spreading across the country. New inventions, new opportunities, and new dreams were transforming everyday life. Yet for many children growing up in the years that followed, adventure was not found in a television set or a shopping mall. It was found in dusty fields, small towns, and the friendships that would shape a lifetime.
For Bobby Gunkel, life changes forever when he meets Brenda, a young girl living near his small East Texas hometown. What begins as childhood friendship blossoms into something deeper as they navigate first love, family struggles, personal triumphs, heartbreak, and the rapidly changing world around them.
Spanning decades of American life, Times... They Are A Changin' is a heartfelt story about growing up, growing older, and discovering that while the world never stops changing, some bonds endure through it all.
Pick Your Edition
Bobby and Brenda, a young couple in love. Fighting to stay connected, they traverse the controversial waters of the 1960s and 1970s.
Each with their own perspectives, their own prejudices and their own expectations, they learn to exist in the modern world.
With no money Bobby feels they America he sought to be an adult in is drifting away with creation of ideas like Affirmative Action.
Brenda sees the civil rights movements as a time that might help her and other women to better their lives.
But through it all they have each other and learn to love as they both evolve.
Words of the Readers
“Phenomenal book about belonging together.”
“A flawless balance of humor, heart, sweetness, and depth.”
“I couldn’t help but cheer at the moments of triumph and growth.”
“Raises profound questions about the complexities of a loving relationship.”
“A new favorite.”
“An emotional novel.”
“I felt deeply connected with the protagonists.”
“Filled with suspense.”
“Nail-biting twists of events.”
“The narrative grips your attention from the first few minutes of reading.”
A coming-of-age romance set in small-town Texas as two young people grow up, fall in love, and navigate a changing America during the civil rights era.
Paperback / Hardback
Books and E-Books
An interconnected character drama about ambition, identity, and unintended consequences when one woman’s search for meaning triggers a chain reaction across multiple lives.
A teenager becomes the sole survivor of a failed group suicide meant to avoid the draft, only to be turned into a national symbol, scapegoat, and target in a political storm.
Other Titles by Richard W. Kelly
