The Body in the Woods: A Point Last Seen Mystery

The Body in the Woods: A Point Last Seen Mystery

• Genre: Fiction; young adult mystery
• Originally Published: 2014
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile HL720L; grades 7-12
• Structure/Length: 54 chapters; approx. 288 pages; approx. 6 hours, 35 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: After joining Portland County Search and Rescue, Alexis, Nick, and Ruby join forces to search for an autistic man lost in the woods. After finding a corpse, they find the courage necessary to find the murderer before they kill again.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Murder and attempted murder; violence against people in marginalized groups; mental illness; death of a parent

April Henry, Author

• Bio: Born in 1959; grew up in Medford, Oregon; at age 12, sent an original short story to writer Roald Dahl, who passed it to his editor, who recommended publication in an international children’s magazine; attended Oregon State University and earned a business degree; inspired to begin writing by the experience of reading a badly written book and becoming convinced she could do better; wrote for a variety of healthcare organizations while starting out as a fiction writer; has written 27 thrillers for young adults and adults; enjoys the research process involved with crime and thriller fiction
• Other Works: The Lonely Dead (2004); The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die (2013); Count All Her Bones (2018)
• Awards: Oregon Book Award (2015); Oregon Spirit Award finalist (2015); Iowa Teen Book Award finalist (2016); Missouri Truman Award finalist (2016)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Friendship
• Identity and Belonging
• Survival
• Communication Versus Silence

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Explore background information on mystery as a genre and effective mystery techniques to increase their engagement with and understanding of The Body in the Woods.
• Read/study paired texts and other brief resources to deepen their understanding of themes related to Friendship, Identity and Belonging, Survival, and Communication Versus Silence.
• Demonstrate their ability to follow Ruby’s inferences and deductions as the plot unfolds by creating an “evidence board” presentation that gradually reveals the solution to the mystery.
• Analyze the significance of various elements of the novel, such as structure, symbolism, characterization, narrative perspective, plot detail, setting, and motifs, and construct essay responses tying these to the novel’s meaning.