Peeled by Joan Bauer

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.