The Hippie House - Katherine Holubitsky

Holubitsky, K. (2004). The hippie house. Victoria: Orca.

Summary 
Emma, her brother, and their friends are enjoying an ideal summer, with their own private gathering place on their family's farm. As this cabin becomes more popular with the local youth, it is dubbed "The Hippie House." As summer winds down and school resumes, the Hippie House becomes less used, and is largely forgotten. However, when a local young woman goes missing, and is found a month later in the Hippie House, Emma's family is haunted by the constant reminder of her brutal murder. As months pass without finding the murderer, their small community becomes more and more nervous.

Evaluative comments 
The Hippie House juxtaposes an almost idealized youth with an unthinkable crime. As the story progresses and the mystery remains unsolved, Holubitsky slowly builds a tenser tone that matches the tension in the book's small town. By taking the time to establish characters before the book's turning point, Holubitsky also effectively demonstrates the strains and changes of the characters' relationships with family, neighbours, and acquaintances, and how quickly former trusts are questioned and forgotten. Indeed, in many ways, the focus of the novel is as much on how the book's events affect the characters as it is about solving the mystery. The balance between these two aspects grounds the book in reality, and allows the reader to experience the drawn out mystery along with the characters. 

Suggested audience 
Grades 7-10

Reader’s advisory notes
Appeal terms - Plot-driven, bleak, creepy, disturbing, suspenseful, compelling
Read-alikes - Northern Light, Jennifer Donnelly

Booktalking hook 
Read passage on pp. 100-102

Reason for inclusion 
Katherine Holubitsky is an award winning Canadian YA author.

Category 
Canadian, Mystery/Thriller/Suspense

Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me - Julie Johnston

Johnston, J. (1994). Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me. Toronto: Stoddart.

Summary 

Fifteen-year-old Sara Moone has been in the foster care system for most of her life. When she turns sixteen, she will be able to leave foster care, and she plans to head north, the most remote location she can think of. Her final placement is on a farm in Ontario, with the Huddleston and two other foster sons. As she counts down the days until her sixteenth birthday, she writes about her daily life on her only friend, her computer.

Evaluative comments
Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me is well written, with very developed characters. It is given a voice through Sara's narration, and the honesty and cynicism that show through her entries into her computer help achieve an impressive balance of humour and seriousness. Many readers will be able to relate to Sara's sense of isolation.

Suggested audience 
Grades 7-12

Reader’s advisory notes 
Appeal terms -  character-driven, leisurely paced, amusing, bittersweet, moving, reflective,                       sarcastic, conversational, 
Read-alikes - Pinballs, Betsy Byars; Alice, I Think, Susan Juby

Booktalking hook 
Read the passage where Sara is explaining why she has no interest in finding her birth mother and her own future plans (p. 27)

Reason for inclusion 
Awards and Honours - 1994 Governor General's Award; 1995 CLA Young Adult Book Award

Category 
Canadian, Realistic, Award-Winning

Stephen Fair - Tim Wynne-Jones

Wynne-Jones, T. (1998). Stephen Fair. Toronto: Groundwood.

Summary 
Stephen Fair is having strange dreams. The strangest thing about them, though, is that they're the same dreams his brother had before he ran away. Stephen is sure that these dreams mean something, but his mother is growing more and more mysterious about why his father and brother left. Fortunately, Stephen has his friends, who have named themselves the "usual suspects," to keep him distracted from his growing sense of unease.

Evaluative comments 
Stephen Fair is an extraordinarily well-written novel, making excellent use of setting and imagery to add further depth to the story. The characters are fully formed, with their own particular quirks, but still very real. The references to the film "Casablanca" throughout the novel are well integrated, and serve to heighten the atmosphere of the story. This is a book I would highly recommend, and would be a very interesting book to read for a second time after knowing how it ends.

Suggested audience 
Grades 8-12

Reader’s advisory notes
Appeal terms - Character-driven, reflective, amusing, compelling, 
Read-alikes - Zack, William Bell; Mistik Lake, Martha Brooks

Booktalking hook 
Read Stephen's dream in the prologue

Reason for inclusion 
Tim Wynne-Jones is an award winning Canadian author.

Category 
Canadian, Realistic