Blood+Wounds

//Blood Wounds// by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Willa has a happy family. She has a stepfather and sisters, but they are all happy and love each other. Everything seems fine, until Willa's real father murders his family and comes for her. She doesn't really remember him and didn't know he had little girls, didn't know she had half sisters. Willa decides that she has to go to where her parents came from and mourn those little girls. She has to find her roots, what she's made of. Even her happy family isn't enough for Willa until she can go dig in the past and find out the truth about her life that she's forgotten. This book took me in so many directions. Susan Beth Pfeffer did an excellent job with the pacing of this novel though. I was hooked from the very first sentence, and didn't stop reading until the story was over. Each character was so perfectly crafted. I could picture each one of them clear as day and even overheard their voices while they conversed. I would completely recommend this for the list. It was well-written and relateable for kids in a lot of ways. The whole novel was a struggle for identity and Willa trying to fit in. --Brittany Moore Hall Memorial Library

I agree that this was a pager turner, my only objection is that so much darkness follows such a small group ( reminded me of a soap opera). Susan Schatvet Seabrook Library

I'd rather give this a 4 minus out of 5 stars. If you don't like dark reading about deep issues, this is not for you. I do, however, like this author's writing and wasn't prepared to like this book, but I did. It has an overload of dark issues. I recommend this novel for fans of edgier, darker contemporary literature. It is for older teens. I would nominate this for the list depending on what other books we have to choose from. Kathy Watson Kimball Library, Atkinson