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Wolf Hollow

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Wolf Hollow 
By Lauren Wolk
Dutton Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2016. 291 p.

Annabelle and her family live in Wolf Hollow, a place where life is quite calm and peaceful until a new bully shows up at school. Suddenly Annabelle must figure out what secrets she should keep and what secrets she should tell her parents. The trouble is that the truth isn’t always believed thanks to the duplicity of the bully. And soon it is more than just Annabelle who is getting hurt.

This is a brilliant book. That being said, this is also a hard book to read—there is quite a lot in here that is painful and gruesome. But, for those that want a well-written story where a 12 year old is forced to grow up and learn about truth and lies, then this is one book to read. It also could be a good book to read as a grown up and a child. There are a lot of questions that you can pull out of the story (i.e. When should you tell parents about bullies? Have you ever felt bullied? What would you do if someone did something like this to you? Why do you think that specific person made that choice?). In fact, this might be a good choice for a mother/daughter or a mother/son type of book club. There is so much room for discussion.
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