Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer

After the death of her boyfriend, Jam Gallahue is sent to a therapeutic boarding school in Vermont to heal from an emotional breakdown. She is assigned to a mysterious class called Special Topics in English. Only a small number of students are invited to join the class and former students won’t talk about it. The "Special Topic" is the life and writings of Sylvia Plath (author of The Bell Jar). Through a journal writing assignment each student is pulled into a strange world they call Belzhar, where they relive scenes from their lives related to their emotional breakdowns. The traumatic experiences of the characters feel very authentic and the reader hopes for happy endings for them all. I liked the depth of the characters, the unique situations that brought them together, and the twist at the end.

                                        Mr. Fraser