Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper.

Hooper has taken a true story of Anne Green, a girl hanged for killing her newborn infant in 1650, who survived the hanging.  Anne Green, guilty of nothing more than being seduced by the lord’s son and bearing his child, is caught in a world ruled by hierarchy and wealth.  Being a poor housemaid, there is little she can do in her own defense or to remedy the situation she originally found herself in.  Her survival is due to her body being donated to the scientists and physicians for dissection.  Just as the knife is about to be used on her, one of the students spots her eyelids fluttering. 

This book is a thriller made powerful by being a true story.  Hooper has written Anne’s voice with an unflinching honesty and clarity that never leaves the reader in doubt about the truth of the tale.  Written in chapters that move between Anne’s memories and the dissection room, readers will find themselves unable to put the book down.  To have a gripping read even when the audience knows the end of the story is testament to Hooper’s skill as a writer.

This is perfect teen fiction that will appeal to a wide range of readers.  Those interested in historical fiction will adore it and you can also recommend it to kids who read horror or thrillers.  Add to that the vivid cover with its staring blank eyes, and it just may check itself out of the library!