40 Days in Hicksville

by Christina Kilbourne

Overview

Kate doesn’t want to spend one minute in the “Hicksville” her mother moved them to, much less the year she’s stuck here in the decaying house they inherited from her grandparents. She misses her boyfriend and sneaking out at night to make urban exploration videos for her growing YouTube channel.

Zach, the boy who lives next door, tries to befriend Kate even though she ignores him. But when Kate discovers her estranged grandfather lives nearby, she wants to meet him despite the small-town rumours of his violent past, and takes Zach with her.

That’s when they find the crevasse on her grandfather’s property and the skeletons hidden inside.

That’s the day they find out Kate’s uncle and his friend went missing as teenagers.

Instead of counting down the days until she can leave Hicksville, Kate and Zach start working together to solve the cold case that has silenced her mother for thirty-five years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770867154
Publisher:	Cormorant Books
Publication date:	10/14/2023
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Christina Kilbourne is an award-winning author of adult, young adult, and middle-grade fiction. Her books have won the Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award, a Snow Willow Award, and a Red Cedar Award and have been nominated for numerous others. She was born in Southwestern Ontario but spent her school years in Muskoka where she attended a two-room country school. In her spare time, Kilbourne enjoys travelling, skiing, hiking, kayaking, and anything else that keeps her moving. She lives in Bracebridge, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

Kilbourne brilliantly builds the tension in the story as each character is forced to face their deepest emotions, from desire and apathy at the beginning to anger and the guilt that comes from generational trauma later in the story.

YA Dude Books - James Steeves

2023-09-23
Kate Cooper likes exploring—until a creepy discovery hits close to home.

Fifteen-year-old Kate has just moved east across Canada to her mother’s childhood home in the small town of Clarendon, which she’s dubbed Hicksville—and she’s not happy about it. It’s just Kate and her mom, as her unstable dad is barely around. Zach Whitchurch, Kate’s neighbor and classmate, keeps riding over to her house on his John Deere lawn mower, and the two bond over their mutual interest in Kate’s paternal grandfather, who’s rumored to have killed his wife. Exploring the woods on her grandfather’s property, Kate and Zach come across a crevasse that merits further exploration. But when Zach finds a human skull, it leads to a web of secrets unraveling. The story is told in alternating first-person chapters from Kate’s and Zach’s perspectives. Character development is unfortunately lacking; it feels like there’s little more to Zach than his interest in Kate, while Kate comes across as a stereotypical rebellious teenager. Repetitive events—ditching school to snoop and sneaking into the woods—become tiresome as they drive the story to its underwhelming climax. One highlight of the book, however, is its depiction of how trauma affects families’ well-being; Kate’s parents each carry demons from their pasts into their present lives. Most characters read white.

A thin mystery with ultimately forgettable characters. (Thriller. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews