October 2014 Book of the Month Jam’s life changed forever on the day that Reeve Maxfield died. She withdraws into herself no longer wishing to live in a world without Reeve. In desperation her parents enrol her into ‘The Wooden Barn’, a boarding school where other ‘emotionally fragile, highly intelligent’ students are each trying to come to terms with their own personal trauma.
When Jam is selected for ‘Special Topics in English’ she is initially disinterested but is soon swept along studying Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and writing in her journal. Something unusual begins to happen to each of the students. What is the strange world that is Belzhar and will if finally return them to their lives and the world they left behind?
Meg Wolitzer's beautiful, poignant writing captures the angst and darkness of a troubled teenage mind perfectly. Belzhar is a breathtaking and surprising story about first love, deep sorrow, and the power of acceptance. ~ Shelley Fallows
"Expect depth and razor sharp wit in this YA novel from the author of The Interestings." - Entertainment Weekly
"A prep school tale with a supernatural-romance touch, from genius adult novelist Meg Wolitzer." -Glamour
"Basically everything Meg Wolitzer writes is worth reading, usually over and over again, and her YA debut . . . is no exception." -TeenVogue.com
If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be at home in New Jersey with her sweet British boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She'd be watching old comedy sketches with him. She'd be kissing him in the library stacks. She certainly wouldn't be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English.But life isn't fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead. Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve's arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam's path to reclaim her loss.