“Old School America,” by Peter Slovenski of Brunswick, Patrick Vardaro and Rich Sherman; illustrated by Ray Jacqmin of Topsham. TowleHouse Publishing of Nashville; paperback, $10 at Maine bookstores.

“Old School America” is a short book about how people lived in America before computers, microwaves, CDs and cell phones.

It is a book about the standards American citizens lived by before birth control, public assistance, abortions, therapy and lawsuits became common.

Lewiston natives Peter Slovenski and Ray Jacqmin teamed up with a couple of Bowdoin College students to write and illustrate the book.

“We wanted to explain some of the principles of the World War II generation in a way that was fun and comprehensible to teenagers and college students of today,” explained Slovenski. “There was a time when cultural standards taught us how to live without birth control, public assistance, or therapy. It’s important for the younger generations not to forget that there is a way to conduct our lives to reduce the chances that we end up in rehab or custody battles.”

The subtitle of “Old School America” is “511 Reflections on the Traditional and Patriotic Values that Best Define America.”

The writers use a style of prose that mixes short paragraphs with lists and reflections.

“The old school describes a way of life that reached its cultural peak in America between 1900 and 1967,” according to the book’s introduction.

What’s considered old school? Doing chores without getting an allowance; reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in class; self-reliance, self-sufficiency, self-confidence and self-discipline; the classics; hard work, education or enlisting in the armed services as a means of getting out of poverty.

Who was old school? Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Rev. Martin Luther King, Theodore Roosevelt, Susan B. Anthony, Harry Truman.

For more information about the book, visit www.oldschoolamerica.com.