Episode II of Bodaciously True and Totally Awesome
Photo: Karl Rabe
Novelist Chris Orcutt marks Chernobyl’s 40th anniversary with new book series, exploring the “invisible threat” that defined a Generation X.
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY, UNITED STATES, April 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — As the world reflects on the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, novelist Chris Orcutt revisits the tragedy in Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome, a literary nine-book series exploring the lives of suburban American teenagers during the end of the Cold War era and the golden age of MTV.
The second installment, Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome: Episode II, True Blue, released April 14, 2026, touches on the Chernobyl disaster, an event that cast a long shadow over the mid-1980s and heightened the anxieties of a generation already living under the specter of the Cold War.
Set in the suburban Hudson Valley, the series follows Avery “Ace” Craig and his peers as they navigate the challenges of teen romance, sexual awakening, and high school life against the backdrop of major historical moments. Advance readers and critics have praised the novel for its lush period detail and accuracy, calling it “a time machine” back to the mid-1980s. According to Orcutt, the events of April 26, 1986, deeply affected the global consciousness, including American teenagers.
“Chernobyl was one of those moments that brought the abstract fears of the Cold War into terrifying reality,” Orcutt said. “While the Challenger explosion was a sudden tragedy that had an immediate effect on anyone who saw it, Chernobyl was a mysterious, invisible threat that the world didn’t understand for weeks. It reinforced the feeling that governments and adults couldn’t be trusted, and that the world we were living in could come to an end overnight. The event forced those of us who were teenagers at the time to think about the dangers of nuclear technology and the uncomfortable idea that our lives were fragile.”
The novel series dramatizes a pre-digital teenage world shaped by shared cultural experiences like television, music, movies, malls, handwritten notes, and face-to-face friendships. As the era that MTV helped define now fades into history, Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome revisits the last great American decade, a decade when youth culture was predominant in the national zeitgeist.
“In the novels, readers see how teens in the 1980s responded to and coped with events like the Challenger disaster and Chernobyl,” Orcutt said. “The novels also show that my generation wasn’t sheltered from tragedies like these. Most of us had to process the implications of Chernobyl—the radiation clouds, the environmental impact—while navigating our own personal dramas. Adults were rarely present and didn’t have answers to these complicated questions. In the novel, the Chernobyl disaster causes Avery Craig and a girl to confess their love for each other, so the reader sees the personal impact this global event had on young people at that time.”
Orcutt, a professional writer with more than thirty years of experience and over a dozen novels to his name, lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. A former journalist and teacher, he wrote Bodaciously offline, drafting early versions using pencils and vintage typewriters. For over a decade, Orcutt immersed himself in ’80s teen culture and shunned the internet in monastic devotion to his magnum opus.
In addition to its “time machine” quality, reviewers have remarked on the series’ scope and originality. A starred review from BlueInk Review calls the novel “awesome,” and Midwest Book Review describes it as “a different coming-of-age novel that simmers with discovery.” While Foreword Clarion praises its immersive nostalgia and cultural detail, Kirkus Reviews calls it “a light-hearted, swift adventure.”
Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome: Episode I, Bad Boy and Episode II: True Blue are now available in hardcover, trade paperback, and Kindle ebook formats.
For more information, visit Orcutt’s official media page. For review copies or to schedule an interview (about Orcutt, Bodaciously, or the 1980s), contact the author directly.
Media Contact: Chris Orcutt
Website: https://www.orcutt.net
Email: orcuttwriter (at) gmail (dot) com
Facebook: @Orcuttwriter
Chris Orcutt
Chris Orcutt, Have Pen Will Travel
+1 845-705-6389
email us here
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
Other
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability
for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this
article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
