Gen X Experience of Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Remembered in New Novel Series

On the 40th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, novelist Chris Orcutt revisits the tragedy in new literary epic.

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY, UNITED STATES, January 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- As the nation reflects on the 40th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, novelist Chris Orcutt revisits the tragedy in Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome, a nine-book literary epic set in 1986-87. The series explores the lives of American teenagers during the end of the Cold War era and the golden age of MTV. The novels are being released episodically over the next 24 months.

The first installment, Bodaciously True & Totally Awesome: Episode I, Bad Boy, released January 20, 2026, touches on the Challenger disaster, an event that shaped a generation of students who witnessed the tragedy in classrooms across the country.

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 1980s. According to Orcutt, the events of January 28, 1986 deeply affected American teenagers.

“Challenger was one of those moments where everyone remembers exactly where they were,” Orcutt said. “You have to understand, a substantial portion of that Challenger mission was supposed to be Christa McAuliffe teaching students around the country and the world from space. In fact, many of us were watching the launch live in our classrooms, and, 73 seconds after launch, we saw the shuttle explode on TV. The event was basically my generation’s Kennedy assassination. It made us all confront our mortality and the fragility of life.”

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 1980 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 events like Challenger alone or with our peers. Our parents generally were unavailable and didn’t have answers or much comfort to offer.”

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 Episode I “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 is available January 20, 2026, in hardcover, trade paperback, and Kindle ebook formats. Subsequent episodes (2 through 9) will be released throughout 2026 and 2027.

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.

Chris Orcutt
Chris Orcutt, Have Pen Will Travel
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