Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Peeled
    Unavailable
    Peeled
    Unavailable
    Peeled
    Audiobook5 hours

    Peeled

    Written by Joan Bauer

    Narrated by Kathe Mazur

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Something's rotten in Apple country!

    Hildy Biddle is a high school reporter eager to stand up for the truth. She's just waiting for a chance to prove herself as a journalist, and yearning for a big story. The trouble is, the town's biggest story stars . . . a ghost. Not a very easy interview!

    This ghost has the town in a tizzy, and the local paper is playing up people's fears with shocking headlines of eerie happenings and ghostly sightings. Hildy's determined to discover what's really going on, but her desire to uncover the truth is making some people awfully nervous.

    Does the truth have a chance of being heard over all the buzz?

    Newbery Honor winner Joan Bauer brings her trademark sense of humor, witty dialogue and cast of quirky characters-featuring a strong, feisty heroine-to this funny, thought-provoking mystery.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 13, 2008
    ISBN9780739367902
    Unavailable
    Peeled
    Author

    Joan Bauer

    July 12, 1951 - "I was born at eleven A.M., a most reasonable time, my mother often said, and when the nurse put me in my mother's arms for the first time I had both a nasty case of the hiccups and no discernible forehead (it's since grown in). I've always believed in comic entrances. "As I grew up in River Forest, Illinois in the 1950's I seem to remember an early fascination with things that were funny. I thought that people who could make other people laugh were terribly fortunate. While my friends made their career plans, declaring they would become doctors, nurses, and lawyers, inwardly, I knew that I wanted to be involved somehow in comedy. This, however, was a difficult concept to get across in first grade. But I had a mother with a great comic sense (she was a high school English teacher) and a grandmother who was a funny professional storyteller—so I figured the right genes were in there somewhere, although I didn't always laugh at what my friends laughed at and they rarely giggled at my jokes. That, and the fact that I was overweight and very tall, all made me feel quite different when I was growing up—a bit like a water buffalo at a tea party. "My grandmother, who I called Nana, had the biggest influence on me creatively. She taught me the importance of stories and laughter. She never said, 'Now I'm going to tell you a funny story', she'd just tell a story, and the humor would naturally flow from it because of who she was and how she and her characters saw the world. She showed me the difference between derisive laughter that hurts others and laughter that comes from the heart. She showed me, too, that stories help us understand ourselves at a deep level. She was a keen observer of people. "I kept a diary as a child, was always penning stories and poems. I played the flute heartily, taught myself the guitar, and wrote folk songs. For years I wanted to be a comedienne, then a comedy writer. I was a voracious reader, too, and can still remember the dark wood and the green leather chairs of the River Forest Public Library, can hear my shoes tapping on the stairs going down to the children's room, can feel my fingers sliding across rows and rows of books, looking through the card catalogues that seemed to house everything that anyone would ever need to know about in the entire world. My parents divorced when I was eight years old, and I was devastated at the loss of my father. I pull from that memory regularly as a writer. Every book I have written so far has dealt with complex father issues of one kind or another. My father was an alcoholic and the pain of that was a shadow that followed me for years. I attempted to address that pain in Rules of the Road. It was a very healing book for me. I didn't understand it at the time, but I was living out the theme that I try to carry into all of my writing: adversity, if we let it, will make us stronger. "In my twenties, I had a successful career in sales and advertising with the Chicago Tribune, McGraw-Hill, and Parade Magazine. I met my husband Evan, a computer engineer, while I was on vacation. Our courtship was simple. He asked me to dance; I said no. We got married five months later in August, 1981. But I was not happy in advertising sales, and I had a few ulcers to prove it. With Evan's loving support, I decided to try my hand at professional writing. I wish I could say that everything started falling into place, but it was a slow, slow build—writing newspaper and magazine articles for not much money. My daughter Jean was born in July of 82. She had the soul of a writer even as a baby. I can remember sitting at my typewriter (I didn't have a computer back then) writing away with Jean on a blanket on the floor next to me. If my writing was bad that day, I'd tear that page out of the typewriter and hand it to her. 'Bad paper,' I'd say and Jean would rip the paper in shreds with her little hands. "I had moved from journalism to screenwriting when one of the biggest challenges of my life occurred. I was in a serious auto accident which injured my neck and back severely and required neurosurgery. It was a long road back to wholeness, but during that time I wrote Squashed, my first young adult novel. The humor in that story kept me going. Over the years, I have come to understand how deeply I need to laugh. It's like oxygen to me. My best times as a writer are when I'm working on a book and laughing while I'm writing. Then I know I've got something." Joan's first novel, Squashed, won the Delacorte Prize for a First Young Adult Novel. Five novels for young adult readers have followed: Thwonk, Sticks, Rules of the Road (LA Times Book Prize and Golden Kite), Backwater and Hope was Here (Newbery Honor Medal). Joan lives in Darien, CT with her husband and daughter. Copyright © 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.

    Related to Peeled

    Related audiobooks

    YA Mysteries & Detective Stories For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Reviews for Peeled

    3.5/5

    190 ratings24 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Nice little mystery story about teens, newspapers and ghosts. The story was slow moving; but well written and interesting.
    • 4/5
      Writing style is a little choppy at times. I'm not sure if this was me being out of practice reading or not, but there were a few too many characters for me to always keep everyone straight. But I found this an excellent book to remind me why impartial and fact based journalism is so important. If I'm having a hard time finding that sort of journalism in real life, at least this book reminds me of things to beware of when reading todays internet 'news'.
    • 4/5
      Joan Bauer’s delightful injections of “apple” imagery reinforce the tone of the story and her rich characters add depth and understanding to the theme. The most valuable character to inspire Hildy is her father. His words ring true throughout the entire story, “You know how to peel an apple, Hildy? Once you start cutting, don’t stop until the peel comes off. It’s how you do anything…you’ve got to start and not stop until the job is done.” Baker Polton, the gruff retired newspaperman challenges the students to get the facts. Minska, local restaurant owner and friend of Hildy, shares her experience as a child growing up in Poland during the Solidarity movement in Gdansk to encourage the students when no one will listen to them. All of these characters represent adults who can influence a teenager's perspective on life.Peeled is a great book to used for discussion about freedom of the press, teenagers challenging adults, the impact of economics and change on local communities, and the historical facts about the Solidarity movements around the world. It's a great read!
    • 3/5
      Hildy Biddle, a budding high-school journalist following in her deceased father’s footsteps, is determined to uncover the mystery surrounding the allegedly haunted house in her small town. The big newspaper in town exaggerates the “hauntings”, making people fear for their lives, and Hildy takes it upon herself to prove that someone is profiting from this “fear-mongering.” "Peeled" is a quick read that leaves the reader rooting for the underdogs.
    • 4/5
      Hildy learns much about her friends, family, schoolmates and
      the newspaper business as she investigates the strange happenings at the local haunted house.
    • 3/5
      MSBA Nominee 2009-2010

      I actually quite liked this book. Hildy Biddle wants to be a star reporter, just like her dad, who died not that long ago. The old Ludlow House in her town seems to be haunted, and indeed has a sad past. Hildy doesn't believe the hype and goes to investigate. But someone doesn't want Hildy to find out the truth...

      I will agree with some other reviews of friends that it wraps up a bit too quickly for me, and is a bit too long in the set-up at the beginning.
    • 3/5
      The classic tale of a small town girl who wants to be a journalist and a man who wants to tear down the town to put up an amusement park, but this story has a twist, a ghost! Unfortunetly this story lacks a certain super-natural appeal, but then again I love super-natural stories that are extra super-natural. It all depends on what kind of stories you enjoy. I like fantasy. But, personally, this story is a bit of a downer.
    • 1/5
      Peeled was not such a great book it started of very slow. I didn't like it gave it 1 star. It was not the best book. He book itself was about a town having a annual fair and the crown the town queen. This girl in the book is telling you about what you do around here in this town. But when she wants to put out a story about a ghost in the town and the people in the town start to freak out because of the story. It sound like a very good book but it starts off very slow and it doesn't get you want to read It more. that's why I gave it 1 star.
    • 4/5
      This book was really good, a real mystery, i loved it. It really  keeps you on the edge but moved at a really slow pace. Some parts were kind of confusing but made sence if you kept reading. I would recomend this book to anybody that likes mystery or ghoast books.
    • 5/5
      Wow a very exciting, attention-holding story to the end. Hildy Biddle is funny, sensitive, and creative. A very good read.
    • 2/5
      didnt keep my interest for long. got to repetative, even for me
    • 4/5
      In an upstate New York farming community, high school reporter Hildy Biddle investigates a series of strange occurrences at a house rumored to be haunted.
    • 5/5
      Hildy Biddle is a sixteen year old junior at Banesville High. Her dream is to become a journalist and follow in her deceased father's footsteps. She lives in a small town in the heart of apple country. Lives revolve around apples and of course the Apple Blossom Festival. The biggest news so far for Hildy is the Apple Blossom Queen's sudden illness. That is until strange things are reported to be happening at the Old Ludlow Place, the towns own haunted house. Hildy doesn't believe things are as they seem and she sets out to find the truth. her biggest obstacle as she attempts this is the local paper "The Bee". When "The Core", the school paper is forced to close by the local paper, they create an underground newspaper. From here they find out the truth.This is an excellent book for kids to read. It is a demonstration of how those in power can use the media to push forth their own agenda. I've enjoyed Joan Baur's books and this is another example of good literature that I can recommend to my students. I have to say I really liked the cover and title. They went well together. When we read a story in the paper we must often peel away the layers to get to the truth of the story.
    • 4/5
      Most of all, I love the characters! I love Hildy's passsion and her journalistic integrity. I love the character of Minska, who grew up in Communist Poland, and her relationship with Hildy and her friends. And I love the stern character of Baker Polton and his slew of wonderful journalistic tidbits. Some of the situations were a little "too much" like Pen Piedmont's editorials, the antics of the nefarious mayor, and the kids' opportune glomming on to a professional newspaperman for their new advisor, but it was still a fun read and I'm going to read more of Joan Bauer's books.
    • 4/5
      Joan Bauer is a writer, as her main character Hildy Biddle says of her journalist father, "you want to read all the way through." This touching and humorous story about a high school journalist who stands up against the corrupt developer who wants to destroy her proud little apple-growing community has a big heart and a lot to say about the nature of truth. The main character is a spunky girl who values hard work and brains, and I really liked that. There's a little bit of romance, a little bit of mystery, and even a little bit of revolution. The one complaint I have is that, at times, the book seems to skim along the surface a bit (in a bare bones journalistic style), and I wish we could linger, sink down into the relationships a bit. The characters outside of Hildy are fairly one-dimensional, and there are a lot of details about them that fall to the wayside in the focused plot of tracking down the clues and getting sources on the record. Overall, though, a book I will heartily recommend to my students.
    • 4/5
      I usually love Joan Bauer's books - the strong (usually) female main characters who are smart, determined, and insightful, the sense of humor, and the quotable bits that are sprinkled throughout the works. However, this one, even with all the attributes mentioned above didn't have the same magic for me (maybe it was because I listened to it instead of read it?)In a town that is filled with fear and rumors of ghostly activities, the staff of the school paper led by Hildy tries to provide a balanced voice and find truth in the growing frenzy.
    • 3/5
      I am a fan of Bauer's novels for young adults, but I confess I was disappointed in this one. It's quite readable, as all Bauer's books are, but it was basically a reworking of an earlier (and much better) novel, "Hope Was Here." Same basic plot - courageous teenagers, inspired by a brave and wonderful adult, find they can fight corrupt politicians and businessmen and (kind of) win. Enjoyable - but I won't be keeping the book to read again.
    • 4/5
      Hildy Biddle is feisty, funny, and and has a very good mind of her own. She is Banesville High's star reporter, determined to be as good as her father was. Apples are the "core" of Banesville's economy and two years of poor crops have farmers struggling. Life becomes really rotten when threatening signs appear on the town's old haunted house and Hildy gets a midnight call alerting her to a break-in there. Hildy and her friends are determined to break the story and solve the mystery.The premise of a cub reporter breaking the story is hardly original, but Peeled is a very good young adult novel. Hildy is not only smart, determined,caring, and responsible, but the kind of girl who knows that beauty is more than skin deep and that fickle boyfriends aren't worth the bother. There are worthwhile lessons about corruption, the struggles faced by small towns and small farmers, and the power of the press -- and abuse of that power.Fans of mysteries or crime novels might find the clues too heavy handed and could become impatient waiting for Hildy and her friends to catch on. In a nutshell, I would recommend this to girls in the 12 to 15 age range.
    • 4/5
      I wasn't as fond of this novel as I have been other Joan Bauer works. The whole thing seemed weak and contrived. I liked the description of the town and enjoyed the whole play on the "apple" theme. I just can't imagine anyone getting so excited about a school newspaper!
    • 4/5
      Including Peeled, I have read four books by Joan Bauer. I originally read The Rules of the Road around fifth grade and have been in love with it ever since, which could also explain why I liked Best Foot Forward because it is a sequel. However, when I decided to try Thwonk I wasn't that impressed because it had a lot of fantasy elements within it which isn't her normal style. This caused me to be a bit hesitant towards reading Peeled, but I gave in due to the fact that the cover was just that amazing.I am very glad that I decided to give her another try. Peeled is an excellent story about a teen journalist who is trying to uncover the truth about a haunted house in her town. All of the characters are extremely lifelike, even though the book just offers a brief glimpse into their lives. Both Hildy and her cousin Elizabeth have lost a parent, but under two completely different circumstances. Hildy got to know her father, while Elizabeth's mother died while she was young. This helps connect with the readers because it doesn't limit the experience.The story was a little predictable at times, but it does contain a couple of twists are still surprising to the reader. I would definitely recommend this book to any fans of The Rules of the Road, YA fiction in general, and especially anyone who has written for a newspaper or dreams of doing so in the future.
    • 3/5
      Hildy Biddle is a high school journalist on a mission. To report the truth on the haunting of the Ludlow house, she’ll have to ruffle a few feathers in town. Bauer’s writing is clean and makes for a quick read. Although I wouldn’t rush right out to buy this book, I do think it’s worth having in a Middle School or Public Library collection.
    • 4/5
      Hildy Biddle is trying to follow in the journalistic footsteps of her late father. Hildy attends a rural high school in New York, in a community surrounded by and whose economy is dependent upon apple orchards. Hildy's own family operates an apple orchard, and in addition to the mutlitulde of school projects she's involved in, Hildy works on the family farm and helps out by giving apple picking tours to elementary school groups. When rumors and strange happenings begin at an abandoned house, Hildy and her newspaper friends decide to investigate-- and wind up taking a bigger 'bite' than they realize. Stories about haunted houses and the supernatural get people in town afraid, but Hildy knows there's something not right, and her journalistic intincts prove correct. This is a squeaky clean book; even with all the supernatural and haunting speculation there isn't anything even approaching a 'gosh darn' for foul language. At times the plot starts to feel like a Scooby Doo episode, and I thought for sure some old man would take off a mask and say, "I would've gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids." But it's an enjoyable read and author Joan Bauer makes the book relevent with questions about journalistic integrity. I'd foremost recommend this to students on the school newspaper or who are thinking about a career in journalism.
    • 4/5
      I always enjoy Bauer's books, but this one wasn't quite as catchy as Rules of the Road or Hope Was Here. I learned a good deal about the newspaper business and how to be sure to get the whole truth, and I also learned a bit about owning an apple orchard. The main character is smart and easy to relate to, but the mystery with the haunted house and the mean real estate people was a little too easy to solve for my taste.
    • 3/5
      I love Joan Bauer’s books. All spring I waited with high expectations for Peeled. Maybe I expected too much, but I was disappointed. The book’s main character, Hildy, is a reporter for her high school newspaper. There are evil-doers afoot in her small town, and she and her friends (with the help of a curmudgeonly adult advisor) uncover their shenanigans. If you’ve read Landry News by Andrew Clements, or more recently, the Adam Canfield of the Slash books by Michael Winerip you won’t find anything new here. If you really like the “high school journalist” genre and are looking for a new book, I recommend Defying the Diva, by D. Anne Love, over Peeled. If you haven’t read Joan Bauer, start with Hope Was Here and Best Foot Forward. I thought they were great; Peeled is just okay.