What would you sacrifice to follow your conscience?
In 1969, as the Vietnam War escalates and a nation divides, a young man faces the hardest decision of his life.
Bruce Wasser, a Princeton student with a promising future, receives a draft number that makes becoming a soldier a near certainty. While others debate war in lecture halls, Bruce is thrust into a personal battle—should he fight in a war he believes is unjust, or risk everything by standing as a conscientious objector?
90: A Conscientious Objector’s Journey of Quiet Resistance is a gripping memoir of moral courage and quiet defiance. Told through Bruce's deeply personal lens, this coming-of-age story explores themes of identity, integrity, and the high cost of staying true to one’s values.
This memoir transports readers to a turbulent time in American history, offering a rare inside view of the conscientious objector process and the quiet heroism of those who refused to pick up arms. It is a moving reminder that resistance doesn’t always roar—it can whisper, persist, and prevail.
“A passionate record of a life well lived… a rocky and admirable tale of a man who faced hardship and doubt and emerged with a firm sense of self.”
—Martin Duberman, historian & author
Perfect for fans of Vietnam War memoirs, historical non-fiction, and stories of social justice, 90 is a powerful testament to the quiet strength it takes to live in alignment with your beliefs. Pick up your copy today.
Bruce Jay Wasser - Bruce graduated with high honors from Princeton University in 1971. A conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, Wasser performed alternative service as a laboratory glassware washer in Palo Alto (CA) Veterans Administration Hospital. In the fall of 1973, he began a thirty-three year career as a junior and high school American history teacher in Newark, California. He received numerous honors during his tenure, including "Teacher of the Year" and the prestigious "Golden Bell" Award for helping create "Programs of Conscience," a curriculum that brought students face-to-face with past and current injustices.
Fern Schumer Chapman - Critically acclaimed Chicago-based writer Fern Schumer Chapman has written several award-winning books. Viking/Penguin released her most recent book,Brothers, Sisters, Strangers: Sibling Estrangement and the Road to Reconciliation, in 2021. She writes a blog for Psychology Today called "Brothers, Sisters, Strangers," and she co-hosts a podcast by the same name. Some of her blog posts are compiled in her most recent work, The Sibling Estrangement Journal: A Guided Exploration of Your Experience through Writing.
Her memoir, Motherland - a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, and a BookSense76 pick - is a popular choice for book clubs. Two of her other books, Is It Night or Day? and Middle School Sleuths, are used in middle school classrooms. In 2004, the Illinois Association of Teachers of English (IATE) named Chapman the "Illinois Author of the Year." Twice, Oprah Winfrey shows have featured her books.
The Junior Library Guild named two of her books, Facing the Past and Three Stars in the Night Sky, as August 2017 and August 2018 selections. Recently, she published two picture books, Happy Harper Thursdays and The Return of Happy Harper Thursdays. She gives dozens of presentations each year at schools and events.
