Upper Elementary--Middle School
If you enjoyed reading To Kill A Mockingbird you'll enjoy reading about an awakening of 11-year-old Annabelle in Lauren Wolk's novel Wolf Hollow. Much like Scout in "Mockingbird," Annabelle has a sense of what's just as she encounters a bully in her small community.Annabelle lives on a farm in a rural section of Pennsylvania with her parents, grandparents and two younger brothers during early World War II. Life is pleasant in their little valley with most of the able bodied men off fighting the war. The few men that remain are mostly too old, with the exception of Toby, an odd duck who lives in the Hollow and we learn was a veteran of World War I. Toby's odd ways are accepted and Annabelle's mother takes subtly takes care of Toby and even ends up making a gift of a camera to him.
Annabelle attends school with her brothers and the other children of the Hollow in a one-room schoolhouse and she loves learning along with her best friend Ruth. The calm is upset, however, when Betty Glengarry arrives and turns life upside down for Annabelle and her friends and family. Betty was sent to live with her grandparents due to a "difficult" situation with her parents, and it's not long before Annabelle discovers why Betty really came to live with her grandparents. The bullying that Betty dishes out has many disturbing consequences until it's turned around and Betty is the one in a terrifying situation. Wrongful accusations and an ensuing manhunt lead to fatal outcomes for Betty and Toby in Wolf Hollow.
