Linda Kass's "World News from Waverley High"

Linda Kass began her career as a magazine journalist and correspondent for regional and national publications. Along with her forthcoming novel, World News from Waverley High (September 2026), she is the author of three previous works of historical fiction: Tasa’s Song (2016), A Ritchie Boy (2020), and Bessie (2023). A longtime civic leader, she is the founder and owner of Gramercy Books, an independent bookstore in Central Ohio. Kass lives in Columbus with her husband, Frank; they have four children, six grandchildren, and a labradoodle named Wally.

The set-up for World News from Waverley High:

1969. Lena Rosen is an intelligent, observant teenager torn between spontaneity and self-consciousness. During her junior year, she becomes attuned to the pulse of her times in her first-period Current History class, where rebellion, social change, and musical innovation of the 1960s dominate discussion. When Lena becomes the associate editor of the school newspaper The Beacon, she is drawn into the swirling discourse surrounding the Vietnam War, civil rights, environmental disasters, and campus protests—while also grappling with her growing attraction to Jack Stone, the paper’s editor.

Here Kass dreamcasts an adaptation:

Here are some age-appropriate-looking, older-teen-playing actors and actresses who are commonly cast as 16- or 17-year-olds, including performers who may be a bit older but still pass convincingly:

For Rita Fields: Maddie Ziegler — good for the popular girl, social media girl, or slightly aloof “everyone knows her” type; often cast in teen roles and can read as 16–17.

For Caroline Brown: Chloe Coleman — works well as the smart, cool, socially aware popular girl; has a strong “older teen” look on screen.

For Lena Rosen: Sunny Sandler — can fit the bubbly popular girl or well-liked campus-cool character; can read as a 16–17-year-old with the right styling.

For Abby Hackman: Mia Talerico — better for sweet, recognizable, younger-looking popular teen roles; still reads very young but can fit younger teen roles; or Julia Butters — youthful but can plausibly play slightly older teens.

For Rich Kohn: Mason Thames — very strong for the popular boy, athlete, or romantic lead type; very strong fit for 16–17 roles.

For Jack Stone: Jacob Tremblay — can work as the sensitive popular guy or the unexpectedly central friend; often casts well into teen parts despite a youthful look, could be popular boy/heartthrob.

For Kerry Ross: Walker Scobell — can play younger or older teen depending on styling.

For Mike Jones: Caleb McLaughlin, Jaden Smith, or Michael Rainey.

For Derek Wright, Stephen Long: Marcus Scirbner or Miles Brown.

Directors who fit 1969 high school:

Richard Linklater – He’s masterful with period detail and ensemble young casts, and he has already done late‑60s/70s milieu in films like Dazed and Confused and Everybody Wants Some!!, both praised for their lived‑in authenticity rather than nostalgia gloss. He’d be ideal if you want the feel of students’ everyday lives, hanging out in corridors and parking lots, with history simmering in the background rather than front and center.

Kelly Fremon Craig – Her films, The Edge of Seventeen and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, show a keen ear for adolescent dialogue and inner life, plus an ability to adapt period material (the latter is set in the 1970s) without making it feel like a dress‑up exercise. She’d be a strong choice if you want a deeply character‑driven, intimate story about one or two students navigating 1969’s social shifts.

Greta Gerwig – With Lady Bird and Little Women, she’s shown she can blend coming‑of‑age, social context, and a precise sense of time and place, and she’s very attuned to young women’s interiority. If your story centers on a girl or a group of girls in 1969, especially with an undercurrent of feminist awakening, her sensibility could suit it beautifully.

Jeff Nichols – He often works in specific American historical moments with a quiet, observant tone, and his work with teens in Mud shows he can capture young characters against a larger cultural backdrop. He’d tilt the project toward an understated, mood‑driven Southern/Midwestern Americana feel.

A practical example: if your novel’s tonal center is something like The Learning Tree or Kes—grounded, observant portraits of young people with social tensions in the background—a Linklater or Nichols type makes sense. If you’re closer to a Judy Blume–meets‑political‑awakening story in a Midwest or Northeastern high school, someone in the Gerwig/Fremon Craig vein is closer to the bull’s‑eye.

Visit Linda Kass's website.

Writers Read: Linda Kass (June 2026).

Writers Read: Linda Kass (July 2026).

Writers Read: Linda Kass (August 2026).

--Marshal Zeringue