14 Books Set in the 1980s, From Malibu Rising to Trust Exercise

Colson Whitehead calls his fourth novel, Sag Harbor ($12, originally $17), autobiographical, as some of its events mirror those of his own childhood summers spent in the Hamptons. In the book, 15-year-old Benji stays at his family's home at Azurest, a historically Black beach resort within the predominantly white town. Despite his anxiety and struggles to fit in, Benji hopes that the summer of '85 is when everything will change for the better.