“January 7, 1968. Dear Diary, Today the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour hit number 1 on the charts, a duck hunter accidentally shot a whooping crane already going extinct, and Bing LaBelle finally made it to the front page of the Pasadena Star News: Bing LaBelle (St. Francis Class of’66) home from Vietnam in a coffin.” – Kennedy Girl, p 1.
With KENNEDY GIRL, Caitlin Hicks draws us back to 1968 in America. Deftly painting the era of sex, drugs and war in Vietnam, she introduces us to her hero Annie Shea, a teenager on her right of passage to adulthood. Annie chooses to be a Kennedy Girl, a supporter of Robert Kennedy as he campaigns for the presidency. With Kennedy’s idealistic campaign dreams as her guide, she faces the childhood truths learned from her large and traditional Catholic family and their middle America community.
When reality collides with youthful innocence
We witness with fingers crossed as she questions religious morality and community mores, even the laws of the land. We cheer as she chooses to act, attempting to right the social and legal wrongs in her way. We weep when reality collides with youthful innocence.
With KENNEDY GIRL, we remember the joys of youthful discovery and the contradictory expectations modern society demands of each of us as we reach adulthood.
I read this tale in just two days. It’s that kind of book!
I highly recommend you add KENNEDY GIRL, to your reading list. –Jane Callen, Vancouver author
