Joint Review: The Body in the Woods by April Henry

by:  April Henry
published by:  Henry Holt & Co.
publish date:  June 17, 2014

Alexis, Nick, and Ruby have very different backgrounds: Alexis has spent her life covering for her mom’s mental illness, Nick’s bravado hides his fear of not being good enough, and Ruby just wants to pursue her eccentric interests in a world that doesn’t understand her. 

When the three teens join Portland County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, they are teamed up to search for a autistic man lost in the woods. What they find instead is a dead body. In a friendship that will be forged in danger, fear, and courage, the three team up to find the girl’s killer—before he can strike one of their own.


I wish they had these kinds of books when I was a kid.  I really liked the idea of SAR.  That's something that I would have been all over when I was younger. It looks like this is the beginning of a series, so I approve of that.  It reminded me of the old Christopher Pike and RL Stein books that were starting to come out when I was in Middle School.  Those books were so awesome.  I could see these books being just as popular.

I enjoyed The Body in the Woods and definitely recommend it. It is a book I would have loved in late middle school and even into high school.  I was a fan of Christopher Pike and I agree with Autumn that this had the same feeling.  I liked the suspense as I thought it was intriguing enough to engage the YA level crowd.

I also liked the characters.  None of them were perfect or from the "beautiful crowd".  The face and person they projected to the outside world was so different from who they really were.  I felt like that would really resonate well with the the teen readers.  It looks like it is going to be the first in a series, so I am interested to see what comes next.