May 31

Wolf Hollow (2016)
By Lauren Wolk

Written from the perspective of a 12-year-old girl, this moving story relates the decisions a child makes (to speak up or not) and the consequences those decisions may have.  Annabelle lives in a rural western Pennsylvania town some time in the late 1940s.  All is quiet and peaceful until a new girl, Betty, moves in with her grandmother and decides to pick on Annabelle.  When Annabelle stands up to Betty's attacks, Annabelle disappears.

Meanwhile a disheveled, disoriented WWI vet named Toby is living in a shack out of town, suffering from (what we now call) PTSD. When more attacks are reported, the townspeople suspect Toby - when in fact it is Betty who has carried them out.  Annabelle seeks more information, but fails to share what she knows.  (Who's going to believe a kid?)

This was a well-written young adult novel and realistic in that it did not have a predictable nor happy ending.