‘Unforgettable’ heroine returns

Launch of “KENNEDY GIRL” by Caitlin Hicksat Sunshine Coast Arts Council,Friday, June 2nd7 PM

An uncontrollable series of events transforms the lives of two teenagers the night of RFK’s assassination when a black dancer and a white singer chase his ambulance through the streets of Los Angeles. A suspenseful road trip from California to Canada in 1968.

 

Seventeen-year-old, white, sheltered high school senior Annie Shea doesn’t realize she’s already forming into the rebel she aches to become. A conservative Catholic from Pasadena, California, she solos in the scandalous stage play HAIR, and falls for a talented black dancer from Watts. When her sister, Madcap, gets kicked out of the house for dating a Jew, Annie volunteers for Robert Kennedy’s Los Angeles Democrat campaign for President, and proudly rides alongside his car as part of his entourage.

On a hot June night, inside the crowded ballroom of The Ambassador Hotel, Annie and Lucas witness RFK’s triumphant presidential primary. Seconds later, RFK is shot, and the two follow his ambulance through the streets of LA—a tragic and chaotic ride that upends their young lives forever.

Annie ditches her first day of university to drive Lucas and her brother to Canada to evade the law. Throughout the suspense of their hasty road trip up the coast of California, Annie unearths her brother’s unbearable secrets. She connects with Lucas’s generous heart while sorting it out: justice and privilege, racism, sexuality, love, and the dark forces of war.

“Annie Shea grows up! I am so pleased to present this story to you, especially those of you who got to know Annie when she was twelve-going-on-thirteen in the first book of this series, A Theory of Expanded Love.

BIG FAMILY * THE SIXTIES

“In Kennedy Girl, Annie ventures away from the bosom of her big family and begins to make choices for herself in the world. Growing up in the Sixties was a heady experience for so many— the excitement of being on the verge of true possibility. A new consciousness was forming all around—into what was hoped would be real social revolution.

 

HISTORICAL FICTION * CALIFORNIA GIRL lifestyle

“This book is written in the tradition of historical fiction insofar as it recreates in California a world in which we lived more than fifty years ago. The year 1968 was bombarded with unsettling headlines. In the midst of a youthful revolution of free love, civil rights, and women’s liberation, there were public murders: Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, and the service members who made up the daily death statistics of the Vietnam War. Although thousands of miles away, this nightmare seeped into the carefree, California Girl lifestyle that Annie inhabited, claiming the lives of loved ones.”

KENNEDY GIRL takes place five years after A THEORY OF EXPANDED LOVE. Hicks retained her rights to THEORY and an updated version is now being simultaneously published by Sunbury Press

A THEORY OF EXPANDED LOVE

1st book in series, being re-released: https://caitlinhicks.com/wordpress/theory-expanded-love-hilarious-beguiling-bravely-truthful/

KENNEDY GIRL

2nd book in series, same popular, lovable protagonist, five years later

https://caitlinhicks.com/wordpress/fiction-2/kennedy-girl-a-new-novel-by-caitlin-hicks/

Here is a link to the Writer’s Festival where I have been invited to speak:

https://wordonthelakewritersfestival.com

BOTH books on SUNBURY PRESS website

https://www.sunburypress.com/collections/fiction-1