Peeled

Joan Bauer's PEELED tells of a high school reporter eager to stand up for the truth - even when a ghost is involved. A host of ghostly sightings involves Hildy in a run to discover what's really going on, uncovering a dangerous plot in the process.

Peeled, the latest from Newbery Honor winner Joan Bauer, has a most enticing cover. As soon as I saw it, I wanted to read this book. Hildy lives in a small town in upstate New York with an apple-based economy. Hildy fits in her ambitions to be a journalist between her duties on the family farm- baking, picking and giving tours to elementary school kids. The big festival every year is around harvest time. She is the best writer for her high school newspaper, "The Core" (see the theme here?). When freaky things start happening at the old Ludlow house in town, Hildy knows it's bunk, but isn't sure how to prove it. Hildy always uses the 5 W's in her questioning (who? what? when? where? why?) and her friends (including cute science geek Zack) to arrive at the truth, and doesn't skip over the hard parts. She's determined and gutsy, and doesn't even back down when the articles she prints start to make some grownups angry. Hildy is a strong female protagonist and this book would be great for kids interested in journalism or creative writing. There's nothing offensive or romantic in here, so this would work for even upper elementary readers.

There is nothing more that sixteen-year-old Banesville High School junior, Hildy Biddle, wants, than to be a serious, hard-hitting journalist. Someone who breaks the big news before anyone else. Interviews countless people on a quest for an unsuspected scoop. But, as much as Hildy loves her hometown of Banesville, New York, the little apple harvesting town can't exactly be called a hotspot for news. In fact, some of the biggest stories have involved the Apple Blossom Queen, farmer's market scandals, and hotheaded city officials. That is, until the story of a lifetime drops right into Hildy's lap. For decades people have embellished and spread rumors about a ghost that supposedly resides in the old Ludlow house. A ghost who is evil, has murdered people in the past, and is determined to kill again. Many in Banesville have believed these stories; Hildy has always written them off as rumors. But when controversy revolving around the old Ludlow house, and a ghost begin to resurface, Hildy knows that she has to be on the case. As the top reporter at her high school's newspaper, Hildy is aware that the responsibility of writing and publishing the facts for readers is up to her; therefore, she's determined to solve the mystery, and put it in writing for the world - or, at least all of Banesville - to see. But when you're sixteen-years-old, not everyone is interested in taking you, or your quest for journalistic integrity, seriously; especially when you're up against a local newspaper like The Bee. Anyone with a brain knows that The Bee, along with its publisher and editor, Pen Piedmont, is a farce. The stories are fabricated, blown out of proportion, and more often than not, completely inaccurate. Unfortunately, much of Banesville relies on this fodder for their information. When Piedmont begins publishing stories featuring eerie headlines, spooky happenings, and sightings of ghosts and apparitions, Banesville is in an uproar. Suddenly the quaint little town is flooded with tour buses, creepy characters, and death. Hildy knows that it's up to her to report the truth, but with no one talking, doing that may just be a problem. Unless she can find the words she needs to uncover the truth, and save Banesville. I have never read anything by Joan Bauer before; but, I will confess, I devoured PEELED in just a few hours, and couldn't have loved it more. Hildy Biddle is a girl after my own heart. Her inquisitive nature, quick wit, sharp tongue, and ability to get people to spill their guts is humorous and fun; while her determination to save her fellow community members is admirable. The commitment and passion Hildy displays towards Banesville is so refreshing and enjoyable; while the descriptions of an apple harvesting community couldn't be more quaint. Bauer's characters are off the wall, intriguing, unique, humorous, and, to put it bluntly, tons of fun. Each community member possesses their own outlandish personality - from the innocent Elizabeth, to the sen

"Baker Polton put his feet on the table, leaned back in his chair, and read, '"The long, lonely high school corridors seemed to be filled with the whispers of the graduating seniors who had left their marks on us all."' "Elizabeth smiled nervously. "He looked up. 'Did the seniors draw on you with laundry markers?' "'Why no...' "He slashed through her copy, wrote in red, We won't forget the graduating seniors. 'Keep it simple, kid. This is journalism, not creative writing.'" Back when I was traversing my own high school corridors on Long Island in the early 1970s, I distributed an underground newspaper called Dog Breath (apparently named after the melodic Zappa song) to fellow students at Commack North. I knew that those stacks of newspapers were coming from someone in the Huntington area. (Don't you just love the Internet for being able to track down all sorts of weird stuff?) Since I was preparing to write about a great new middle school novel involving truth, justice, and a school newspaper named The Core, I was fondly recalling that old underground newspaper and started looking around online to see what I could learn about it (35+ years later). It turns out to have apparently been published by the older brother of a brainy Long Island kid who grew up to invent the Palm Pilot! "'We've got a bozo who likes rubbing fear and lies in people's faces. He's the only media source in town except us. Who are we writing for?' "Elizabeth raised her hand emotionally. 'The American people!' "Baker clasped his brow. 'Let's narrow that.' Darrell stood. 'We're writing for the community.' "'And they deserve the facts,' Baker warned. 'Don't ever forget it.'" There are seriously weird doings in Banesville, a picturesque community in upstate New York that has built up around a core of farms and long-established apple orchards . There have long been rumors that the creepy old Ludlow place is haunted. In fact, a young girl died in an accident on the street right out front five years ago. Now, one man has been caught trying to break in to the old house while another one has been found on the property -- dead! And the town's paper run by Pen Piedmont seems to be going out of its way, through a series of articles about the incidents, to heighten the fears gripping community members: "The Bee had in-depth coverage of the Ludlow place, including interviews with unidentified sources too afraid to come forward.' "It's a funny thing how fear grows. It moves like a virus, infecting person after person. "There wasn't any medicine to stop the epidemic, either. "Children were having nightmares about the killer ghost; some were afraid to leave their houses and come to school. "One kindergarten teacher stopped taking her students out to recess because several of them said they saw a bad ghost behind a tree on the playground. "I remembered my long year fighting fear in eighth grade after Dad died. "'Everybody's afraid of something,' Gwen, my therapi

Banesville's newspaper, The Bee, has been printing stories about the town's old haunted house and stirring up fear in the town. Hildy Biddle, a reporter for the high school newspaper, The Core, wants to know just who, or what, is haunting Banesville. Banesville is a quiet little town where the whole economy revolves around producing and selling apples...it's a whole way of life. It seems that because of the old haunted house and the sensationalism that The Bee has stirred up, a very large company wants to build a haunted amusement park revolving around the old Ludlow house. Hildy thinks the editor of The Bee is more interested in sensationalism and selling papers than he is in telling the truth, and now someone is trying to make the apple farmers sell out at below market price to make room for the proposed amusement park. It's true that there have been reports of eerie, strange happenings and ghostly sightings, but Hildy and her friends at The Core are out to disprove the rumors and save the farmers. Their conflict with the editor of the rival newspaper causes the school to shut down publication of The Core, but Hildy isn't going to let that stop her. Together, can the kids figure out some way to keep the amusement park out and keep the apple country intact? Bauer specializes in warm, funny, but strong characters, with witty dialogue, and is a genius at plotting exciting, very entertaining stories. PEELED is one of her best. Hildy stays true to her commitment to the town and her dream to be a great journalist as she struggles to overcome obstacles and expose the truth. Her leadership is inspirational as she confronts the established newspaper and its editor to try to save a way of life. Reviewed by: Grandma Bev