Books to Read While Physically Distancing: Wolf Hollow

 Did you know that your Galesburg Public Library card allows you to check out e-books and audio books through the Libby app? All you need is your library card and your PIN (your birth date in MMDDYYYY format) and you'll be on your way to reading on your phone or tablet!  

Books to Read While Physically Distancing (BtRWPD) will focus on books available for checkout through Libby.

Wolf Hollow
by Lauren Wolk
New York: Puffin Books, 2016

Eleven year old Annabelle is growing up in a small town in western Pennsylvania in 1943. When a new girl moves to town, Annabelle suddenly finds herself the subject of bullying. She finds the situation growing more dangerous as her friend Toby, the former soldier suffering from PTSD, becomes involved.

So, this book won all the awards and was on all the best-seller lists when it came out. It gets frequent comparisons to To Kill a Mockingbird, and it's easy to understand why. It should be noted that it deals in heavy subjects like bullying, PTSD, and growing up. It's not a happy book but it is a very well-written book. I'm still thinking about it the next day. The publisher lists it as middle grade, ages 10 and up. I would hesitate to recommend it to the younger readers in this age group, even if they're reading at that level or above. So while I can absolutely recommend this on the basis of the writing and story, please be aware that it's not for everyone, especially if you're not looking for a heavy read right now.