The 60's

The real question is, what did the 60s bring to the film? If you asked me Id say more of a classy style where i could respect the fact that these 2 kids like each other or whatever. If it was set in the 90s, it wouldnt seem as important or wouldnt hold as much weight.

Meh, I think it's just the state of the society of that time. IIRC the 60s is more conservative, it's about doing your job and getting the luxury to do well for your family and stuff like that. Setting it in the 60s makes Juli as the "weird girl" more pronounced. She was poor, and their yard don't look that good. She was always following Bryce around, sniffing him and ambushing him and whatever. She was assertive, too, when it comes to her ideals and beliefs - which if it were set in the 90s, maybe it wouldn't have, as the previous poster said, hold much weight. Also for a conservative and consumerist decade, there is also the stigma against people with disabilities which in some ways, I guess justifies how much of an arse Bryce's father and Garret was when finding out about Juli's uncle.

I think setting it in the 60s really fits. Although I haven't read the book myself.

The book took place in the early 2000's, NOT the 90's.