After the Woods

Gr 9 Up—The one time Julia runs fast enough to keep up with her best friend, Liv, during their training in the woods, she witnesses Liv get attacked by a strange man. Julia intervenes, putting herself in danger instead. Abducted by the man, Julia escapes two days later. She insists to Liv, her therapist, and her mother that she survived the attack relatively unscathed. After a body surfaces in the same woods almost a year later, Julia starts to experience post-traumatic stress disorder-related flashbacks and realizes that there's more to the story than the news coverage. She's not sure who to trust anymore but enlists the help of her mousy neighbor, a glamorous newscaster, and the dreamy son of the local police chief to unravel the connections. The plot is twisty and dramatic; the references to trauma and abuse are more titillating than profound, giving the serious subject matter a breathless tone. At times it seems like the author tries to address too many timely subjects instead of delving more deeply into one or two, and some of the characterizations seem forced, but the writing is clear and accessible.