This book is about a man, Gene, who relives his boyhood memories by returning to his high school, Devon, which is located in New England. Although fifteen years have passed, there are still some memories like a special tree that brings back some fun and exciting memories and some tragic emotional pain as well. To find out what happens to Gene, the Tree and the school in this book, read A SEPARATE PEACE. If you want to read other books by John Knowles, read Peace Breaks Out a sequel to A Separate Peace. (Dan F., 8th grade student, Rundlett Middle School, Concord, New Hampshire)

Booktalk #2

Two best friends named Gene and Finny have a club called “The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session.” Every night when the club would meet, they would all have to jump out of a tree into the river. One night while in the tree, Gene made Finny lose his balance causing Finny to fall out of the tree and shatter the bones in his leg. It took Finny a long time to have his leg reconstructed and to heal. After his leg was healed Finny had to walk with a cane. However one day Gene and Finny got in a fight.  When Finny walked away, he fell and broke his leg again. It was a clean break, so all the doctor needed to do was reset it. But, something went terribly wrong in the surgery. Will Finny survive this horrifying nightmare?  (Kerri Mariah Shughart, student, Mansfield High School)