In Hol­ly Thompson’s Orchards, Kanako Gold­berg, a half-Jew­ish half-Japan­ese eighth grad­er, is sent from her Amer­i­can home to her mother’s fam­i­ly farm in Japan after Ruth, a bi-polar class­mate, hangs her­self in a near­by orchard. Although Kanako insists she did noth­ing, it is clear that Ruth was bul­lied. Her moth­er says, ​“You can reflect in the pres­ence of your ances­tors.” The nar­ra­tive, told in scant but hon­est and emo­tion­al poet­ry to Ruth, grap­ples with issues of guilt, respon­si­bil­i­ty, and heal­ing. But Orchards is not just about bul­ly­ing and sui­cide; it is also about fam­i­ly and priv­i­lege. Kanako’s Japan­ese fam­i­ly share baths, work hard, and live fru­gal­ly. Her grand­moth­er still resents Kanako’s father. As Kanako adjusts to her new rou­tine, she talks to Ruth about Japan as well as what hap­pened at home. Her resent­ment at the ban­ish­ment turns to under­stand­ing and per­son­al growth, and even­tu­al­ly, Kanako reach­es out to Ruth’s friend, Jake, and makes teshu­vah to Ruth. The end­ing sat­is­fies. While sad, it is what for­give­ness should beem­pow­er­ing and thought pro­vok­ing. Orchards is not over­ly graph­ic or preachy. Read­ers who don’t love verse nov­els may wish for more dia­logue and scene, but those who want to expe­ri­ence the inti­mate thoughts of a young girl grap­pling with self rev­e­la­tion and guilt will find the voice grip­ping, believ­able, and sym­pa­thet­ic. Oth­er books about bul­ly­ing include The Girls, by Amy Gold­man Koss (for younger read­ers). Teach­ers may want to pair this book with the stark film, It’s a Girl’s World, for an open and impor­tant, life sav­ing dis­cus­sion. Ages 12 and up.