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The Body in the Woods

By: April Henry
22ELOGEMAN DEC 06, 2021 10:25AM

The Body in the Woods
By: April Henry
Genre
Mystery, Fiction
Book Talks
This book did not appear on any of my reading logs.
Conflicts
1) The first main conflict is the discovery of the body in the woods.
Nick, Alexis, and Ruby were the ones to discover the dead body
which allowed for the mystery so that the book could continue.
This type of conflict was person vs. person because it was
obviously a murder. This conflict was solved at the end of the book
through Ruby's detective work, Nick's bravery, and Alexis's quick
thinking.
I would give this book a 5 star rating. It was really interesting and
made you want to keep reading. It was great at keeping the
mystery all throughout the book. I was convinced it was the dog
walker up until the end of the book when the bird watcher
grabbed Ruby.
Setting
This book takes place in the woods and the town around it. This is
very important because it helps to link all the murders. If you go
downtown in the city there are lots of homeless people, that's
where he chose his victims. He then persuaded them to go with
him bird watching into the woods, that's where he strangled them.
All the paths that they talk about all help to connect the murders
and how they are happening.
Plot
Three teenagers who have almost nothing in common all choose
to join the SARS, a great youth and adult program about helping
others. They are used to small missions like wandering through

woods looking for lost kids who aren't really lost at all until one
day when they get a very important mission call. 

2) Conflict number two is when Ruby's parents no longer want her

When they arrived at the meeting point they were told that an
participating in the SARS program. This is a person vs. person
older man with autism was lost in the woods and that he needed
conflict was well because it is Ruby against her parents. Once they
to be found immediately. The three kids were grouped together
heard that the kids had found a dead body they thought it was too
and sent off onto the most unlikely path to find him. While Nick
dangerous for Ruby to continue with the program. She disobeyed
and Ruby took off, Alexis took her time looking for clues when she
her parents and continued without them knowing, and her
noticed a girl in a bush. At a closer look she realized that she was
consequence was being grounded. This was solved when SARS
dead. Once Alexis called the other two back they radioed in for the
called her parents saying that they needed Ruby's keen eye and
others to come quickly. Once they got the body out of the woods
almost photographic memory to help them solve the murder.

the investigation started. There were 3 other people who they had
crossed paths with before they had found the body: a man walking
3) The third conflict is between Nick, Alexis, Ruby and the bird
two dogs with only one leash, a homeless man, and a bird
watcher. This is also a person vs. person because the bird watcher
watcher. 

has attempted to kill Ruby. This was solved when Nick realized
Ruby who believes that she is a true-crime detective starts
something was wrong as he saw them walking into the woods.
researching immediately. While all this is happening Alexis is also
Nick was hurt while trying to save Ruby and Alexis used her quick
dealing with her sick, crazy mother who ran away around the same
thinking to call the cops while running and grabbing a garden rake
time. With all the kids worried about their own problems they find
from a nearby yard. She used the rake to knock out the bird
out that this killer has a type.

watcher and possibly save Nick and Ruby's lives.

The cops ignore the kids' findings and theories and arrests a man
who plead guilty to growing cannabis in the woods, but did not kill
the girl. After a few more days another girls is killed. This killer's
Recommendation type is homeless girls, he collects a chunk of their hair once they
are dead and Ruby realizes that he wants to "collect them all".
were wrong. 
While Alexis is looking for her mother she meets a homeless girl
who is more than happy to help her look. While Alexis is searching
she meets the homeless man from the woods again who gives her
really weird vibes and makes her suspect that he possibly killed
the girls. Her theory is changed when she sees the dog walker
arguing with a girl who looked homeless. Ruby, Alexis and Nick
stake out on the trail waiting for the dog walker to go by again and
when he does they start to follow him. When they arrive to his
house they see a silhouette of a girl and him arguing and they
charge in to stop another murder. When the cops arrive they
congratulate the kids until they realize that it was father and
daughter and that the murderer is still on the loose. 
interested in things that most people aren't- murders. That's why
The cops had told the kids to stay out of the investigation so they
did, they went on living their normal lives. One night they joined
the town in watching a bird migration at night. They meet up with
the bird watcher who offers them all hot chocolate. After Ruby
drinks it she starts to feel weird, but passes it off. The bird
watcher persuades Ruby to come with him into the woods to look
for a spotted owl. She agrees and starts walking unit she notices
the prints his boots are leaving- the same prints she saw near the
dead girl's body. She instantly gets a bad feeling and realizes the
hot chocolate had also been drugged. She tries to make a run for it
but he grabs her wrist and threatens her. At this time Nick notices
Ruby walking into the woods with the bird watcher and alerts
Alexis. They both take off running for her while calling the police.
Nick gets their first to see Ruby lying on the ground, as Nick is
attempting to fight off the bird watcher Alexis comes up behind
him with a rake handle, knocking the bird watcher unconscious.
The police arrive and realize that the bird watcher had been
tracking girls the same way experts track birds, by placing trackers
in their bags, sweatshirts, and even in tubes of chapstick. 
constantly on the move and gets really excited about almost
After their near death experience they still continue to work for
SARS and help people.
Theme Statement
Everyone's perspective is different, but that does not mean they
are right or wrong. This is shown all throughout the book while
they are trying to find clues as to who the real murderer is. At the
beginning the cops believed 100% that it was Adam, a man who
was growing cannabis in the woods. The cops wouldn't listen to
any new evidence because they were sure that he was the guy. 
Then, when Alexis sees the dog walker guy again she believes that
he is the one murdering homeless girls. After following him to his
house and Nick attacking him they also learned that their theories
※※※※※※
Finally, with Ruby's research and extreme crime knowledge, she
was able to realize who the real killer was but not until he already
had a grip on her. After realizing that he was the one the cops
brought all the clues together that showed how they all could've
thought the different people were the killer.
Characters
Ruby: Ruby has slight autism but doesn't let that stop her from
trying to live a normal life. Her only problem is she is extremely
SARS is perfect for her, she has the eyes and memory to collect
evidence and solve crimes. She never really had friends until she
met Alexis through the SARS program. 
Alexis: Alexis keep to herself and doesn't really let anyone get too
close to her because she is afraid of getting hurt when they learn
the truth. The truth is that her mom is mentally ill and can
sometimes turn crazy where she believes that even her own
daughter is after her causing her to run away. During this Alexis
was able to come closer to Nick and Ruby as friends, and was able
to open up to a volunteer teen therapist. Alexis was also finding
herself being able to trust the homeless girl who helped her so
much throughout the two days she too was considered homeless.
Nick: Nick is a young teenage boy with ADHD who just wants to
find something he is good at. He looks up to his father who died in
battle in Iraq and wants to be just like him, that's why he chose
SARS. Many people don't really understand him because he is
everything. While working with SARS he became friends with Ruby
and Alexis and did his best to help all those who needed it.
The Bird Watcher: He plays one of the biggest roles in the book-
the murderer. He collects the hair from each victim like a bird
watcher collects feathers. He even keeps a journal and log of each
victims daily habits. He becomes connected to Ruby when she also
states that she is a bird fanatic. He realizes that he wants her red
hair for his collection. After this they continue running into each
other in random places because he placed a tracker in her
backpack to watch her every move.