Monday, January 19, 2009

Peeled by Joan Bauer


Bauer, Joan. Peeled. New York: Putnam, 2008. 247 pp.

Review by Lina Crowell

Do you like a mystery? Strange stories have been circulating about the old Ludlow house in the small farming community of Banesville, NY. People say the ghost of the last owner, mean-spirited in life and even more so in death, is haunting the place, causing harm and even death to people who dare to visit the house. It doesn’t help matters any that the local newspaper, The Bee, is helping to spread the rumors. Hildy Biddle, top reporter for the high school newspaper, The Core, and daughter of a journalist, is skeptical of the stories about the “haunted” house.

Together with the staff of The Core, Hildy determines to get to the bottom of the stories and find out what is really going on. When Hildy and her friends come a little too close to the truth, the owner of The Bee threatens to sue the school unless The Core is shut down. Undaunted, the staff of The Core goes underground, supported by several townspeople and meeting in the back room of a local café, to publish a new community newsletter, The Peel, distributing it at local businesses to get out the truth.

Peeled is the story of what can happen when people come together to stand up for what’s right. Teenage Hildy is a strong female protagonist supported by a cast of interesting, well-written characters. Recommended for age 12 and up.

2 Comments:

Sharon said...

Joan Bauer is one of my favorite authors. "Hope Was Here" and "Rules of the Road" are my favorites of hers. "Peeled" is a decent story and worth reading.

I like your blog theme of 'deliciously clean reads'.

Cindy B said...

I didn't know she had a new one out. I'll have to look in the library for it.

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