Today, in the aftermath of Halloween, is the day we commemorate our saints and the great people of our past history. There are great people who do amazing things every day, in our own neighborhoods and communities that set saint like examples. These people can do things as simple as find the truth in a web of lies, or help to restore a town to its old ways by keeping it in line. These people are all around us, including in my next book.
I have read Peeled by Joan Bauer, an interesting story about a small town girl who saves her community. Hildy Biddle is a journalist for her high school paper, The Core, and will do anything for the truth. So, when strange things start to happen surrounding the town’s haunted house, people automatically blame a ghost for the happenings. But Hildy isn’t about to let a possible ghost keep her from finding out what is really happening.
I’m going to do a character analysis today. Hildy Biddle’s editor and friend, Darrell Jennings, is even more obsessed with finding the truth than Hildy is. He frequently tries to seem like he knows more than the other on the paper, but he seems as clueless as the rest of them when it comes to their new editor and director. Tanisha Bass is Hildy’s best friend and the paper’s photographer. She is very lively and complains a lot about being single.
Elizabeth is Hildy’s cousin, who she lives with. Elizabeth is a sweet girl who loves drawing, and seems to get along with Hildy’s persistent and nosey ways very easily. Lev Radner is the paper’s marketing manager. He is also Hildy’s ex-boyfriend. He is made out to be very handsome, but he also cheated on her. A newer character is the ‘new guy’ Zack Coleman is a scientific, skeptic who doesn’t believe in the ghost stuff going around town. He becomes friends with Hildy fast and helps her with her investigating.
Hildy’s current focus is on the murder and arrests surrounding the Ludlow house, which is said to be haunted. Reports of a ghost are prevalent in The Bee, the local newspaper, but Hildy hasn’t seen anything suspicious. When she starts making accusations that The Bee’s editor is making false statements, her newspaper career is put in jeopardy. She starts to wonder if it’s worth it, with her new fights with Elizabeth, her complicated relationships with Lev and Zack, and her newspaper being destroyed by threats.
Through all this, Hildy finds a reason to keep writing to find the truth through Minska, who owns a local diner/café. She eventually gets a happy ending is all the aspects of her life, and tackles some big problems in her town. I really like the characters and the voice of Hildy. It is a voice that you cannot mistake, and you can’t help but love. Peeled is a well told story, and is has a few twists that left me wondering why I hadn’t seen it coming. I enjoyed reading it, a lot.
RED’S ALL STAR REVIEW: 3 out of 5. It was good, and even though it’s not a real ghost story, it was still fun to read.
MASS APPEAL: Anyone could read this book. It’s just a fun story told from an interesting point of view.
Click Here! to buy this book on Amazon.
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