Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language:  One or two uses of profanity.

Synopsis

In the apple-raising town of Banesville, the Ludlow house is “the haunted house”, and has been for years.  Due to the rumors, kids always cross to the other side of the street when going by.  Now, a man has been arrested breaking into the Ludlow house, and the following day a man is found dead on the property.  Hildy heads off to cover the story for her high school newspaper, The Core.  The other newspaper in town, The Bee, starts printing tabloid-type sensationalism about this “ghost story” that has a lot of people scared.  In the meantime, the staff of The Core gets a new advisor—a tough, seasoned, real-life reporter with a no-nonsense approach.  Trying to uncover the truth, the kids publish all the truths they find, including relationships between The Bee and some unsavory characters from out of town.  When the school suddenly shuts down The Core, Hildy and her friends start publishing an underground paper, distributed in the dark of night.  Of course, there is no secret about who is putting out the paper, and Hildy starts getting threats to stop publishing or else!  Getting to the bottom of this story threatens to turn the kids into real reporters, and save their town from thugs in the process.

This story started out sounding like an old-time comic book, very shallow.  For instance, Hildy is a strong female character but we don’t get to know her very deeply.  In the end, there are some realistic crimes that are uncovered, and the story shows what a real reporter might go through trying to get to the truth.  There are some fun quirky characters, and an amazing dose of apple imagery in everything from business titles to beauty crowns.  I was repeatedly surprised that the teen characters were driving cars, because they seemed more like middle schoolers in the way they talked and behaved.  They weren’t portrayed realistically as high schoolers.  What I did like was the uncovering of tabloid-type reporting showing up in a “real” newspaper.