About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
The "summer of love" is a time of idealistic freedom and experimentation for Emma, her cousin Megan, and the young people of Pike Creek. While her brother Eric's band practices in what Uncle Pat has dubbed the Hippie House, the girls suntan on their small lake and hitchhike into town to hang around the Drop-In Center. They find the growing crowd of long-haired musicians and hangers-on that begin to show up at the farm both enticing and a bit scary. The beginning of the school year brings excitement and change for Emma. But when eighteen-year-old Katie Russell disappears, her teenage sense of immortality is suddenly shattered. A month later, when Eric discovers Katie's body in the Hippie House, the entire community is thrown into turmoil. There are plenty of suspects in the brutal murder, but for months the case remains unsolved. And while others speculate, Eric agonizes that the killer may have been one of the many drifters who passed through the Hippie House during the summer.
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age:
- 12 to 18
- Grade:
- 8 to 12
- Reading age:
- 12 to 18
Awards
- Commended, Texas Library Association (TLA) TAYSHAS List
- , Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award (MYRCA)
- Commended, Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) Our Choice, starred selection
- Short-listed, Canadian Library Association (CLA) Young Adult Book Award
- Short-listed, The Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award
- Commended, Resource Links, The Year's Best Books
Editorial Reviews
"Rreaders will be on the edge of their seats."
"It is a series of rich character studies embedded in Holubitsky's recreation of an earlier, more innocent time period."
"Highly recommended."
— Canadian Book Review Annual
"The Hippie House will resonate with today's young readers and those of generations to come."
— Edmonton Journal
"Absorbing and thoughtful."
"It would appeal to mature readers with an interest in psychological drama."
— VOYA
"Recommended."
— CM Magazine
"Fully developed characters, a complex situation, and a well-realized setting of time and place."
"Certainly this is a well-written novel."
— KLIATT
"In this stunning murder/mystery Katherine Holubitsky brings alive rural life..."
"This is a quietly creepy book that slowly but inexorably leads the reader onward. There is a sinister, uneasy atmosphere that sneaks up on the reader. Holubitsky uses straightforward, almost abrupt foreshadowing that electrifies. You can feel the hair on your arms rise up as you are compelled...to read on."
"There is no telling, only masterful showing."
"Holubitsky has perfectly captured that time in a teenager's life when childhood is no longer possible and adulthood looms closer than you might like."
"This outstanding coming of age story should be in every high school library. Highly recommended."
— Resource Links
"There are many powerfully evoked, acutely observed scenes."
"Holubitsky's strengths-her emotional perceptiveness, her graceful, nuanced writing, her painfully true depictions of teen life-shine here."
— Quill & Quire
