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The Monster Librarian Presents:

Reviews of Werewolf Fiction for Young Adults

Outside of vampires , one of the most iconic horror monsters are werewolves: human beings who due to mystical curses or biological manipulation are able to turn into wolves or something in-between human and wolf.   Whether these are tormented souls who have suffered, or monsters who revel in their predatory nature, they make wonderful creatures for horror novels.

 

The Lost Saint by Bree DeSpain

EgmontUSA; Reprint edition, 2011
ISBN: 978-1606842355

Available: New and Used

The Lost Saint is the second book in Bree Despain’s YA werewolf series. It is the sequel to The Dark Divine, and takes place ten months after the events that close Despain’s previous book. The book tells the story of Grace Divine, who is in a relationship with Daniel Kalbi, the mysterious young man with whom she became involved in the previous book. As readers of The Dark Divine know, Daniel is an Urbat – a human being ‘cursed’ to share his body with a wolf demon. Should an Urbat lose control and give in to his wolf (by committing a predatory act against a human) he will be damned to live as a werewolf. At the end of the first book, Grace attempted to ‘cure’ Daniel of his curse, leaving her ‘infected’ and her brother Jude a werewolf. 

Despain’s book picks up Grace and Daniel’s story and shows them struggling to come to terms with Grace’s infection and Daniel’s cure. New dangers threaten their relationship, and old problems (like Grace’s brother) refuse to go away. The book also brings Gabriel Saint Moon, the legendary Urbat whose letters featured in The Dark Divine, into the action, and reveals more about the history of the Urbat.

Despain’s novels are unusual amongst YA fiction for their portrayal of the werewolf as a wholly monstrous creature. The werewolf state is a negative one, which all Urbat are supposed to avoid. Unlike the werewolves in books by Maggie Stiefvater, Andrea Cremer and Stephenie Meyer, the werewolves (as opposed to the more controlled Urbat) are not noble, sympathetic or in touch with nature or primitive forces. Grace must learn to come to terms with her new existence, but also to be aware of its potentially deadly consequences. This interesting take on lycanthropy was one of the real strengths of the book.

I felt that The Lost Saint was even stronger than the first book of the series. The development of Grace’s character, and the new challenges she faces (particularly as she learns to deal with the ‘wolf’ inside her) were compelling. The first person narrative allows readers to really identify with Grace, and to understand the story from the teen heroine’s perspective. More focus is given to Grace’s religious beliefs (though this does not overshadow other elements of the story), and I felt this was well-handled and believable.

I recommend this book; it will appeal to fans of YA dark romance, particularly books by Maggie Stiefvater, Andrea Cremer and Jennifer Lynn Barnes. However, I would advise reading The Dark Divine before reading The Lost Saint. The third book in the series, The Savage Grace, will be out in March 2012.

Contains: some violence

Reviewed by: Hannah Kate

 

 

 

Red by Kait Nolan

Amazon Digital Services, 2011
ASIN: B005HB8PN6

Available: Kindle and Nook

 

 

The women in Elodie’s family have all been cursed with lycanthropy that surfaces during their sixteenth year, and all of them have met violent ends after giving birth to a child, always a girl.  At seventeen, Elodie has managed to avoid anything that might rouse her wolf, but she can sense that changing, and sees dark choices ahead.  In the meantime, she’s taking her last chance to do what she wants by taking an internship with a scientist who has recently arrived to study the area’s wolves.

 

Sawyer senses something in Elodie that he can’t quite identify- but he knows she’s not quite like other girls. All he knows is that his anger subsides when she’s around, and he wants to protect her. In her confused and terrified state, Elodie has gotten lucky- Sawyer is a werewolf, from a family of werewolves, and he knows it’s not a curse. Unfortunately, Elodie’s wolf is out of her control, and an unknown werewolf hunter has targeted her. And then Kait Nolan introduces one of those “WHAAT? Wait, you can’t do that!” plot twists that turn the story from its romantic roots and adds more than a taste of horror.

 

Kait Nolan does a great job with character development on her main characters, although her secondary characters felt pretty cardboard. I wasn’t Elodie’s biggest fan- to my mind, she spent a lot of time thinking about or talking about suicide being her best option- but I loved Sawyer. Here was a guy who really wanted to do the right thing and make it possible for Elodie to make good choices too. He was a steady guy who was willing to wait and was also willing to act. And he was awesome as a wolf.  I had a hard time buying Nolan’s “villain”, though- her psycho werewolf hunter’s actions and motivations didn’t make a lot of sense to me (Example: I was going to adopt you and kill you when you were a baby, but now I’ve stalked you an entire summer just to make sure you’re going to wolf out, because I don’t kill innocent girls). Nolan also used the “alternating points of view in each chapter “device seen in so much YA fiction, although she pulled it off well. Still, Red is a fresh take on YA werewolf fiction, which definitely needs it, and a fast, enjoyable read.  Readers who enjoyed Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce or Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause will definitely want to take a look at Red. Recommended.

 

Contains: Nudity, gore, violence and references to suicide

 

 

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Scholastic Press, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0545259088

Available: New Hardcover and Kindle

Forever is the third book in the popular series The Wolves of Mercy Falls. Of the three books, Forever is the longest and the least focused of the three. The beginning, though, is completely baffling. It’s told from the point of view of a female werewolf, Shelby, in wolf form, during her attack on an unnamed girl (Shelby is near Sam’s age, but prefers to be a wolf, and wants Sam as her mate). As in previous books, it’s disconcerting to hear a wolf communicate using words, and the unexpected killing in the first pages is a radical, and memorable, departure from the beginnings of the first two books. The next chapters slow the story down considerably, with a lot of waiting as Grace shifts back and forth before Sam can find her, and some confusing parts when Grace is apparently taken into the pack and taught some basic rules of pack behavior before finally shifting to human for long enough for Sam to connect with her.

In the meantime we learn that the girl Shelby attacked and killed was Olivia, Grace’s friend who transformed into a wolf at the end of Shiver, and that this additional attack has finally given Isabel’s father, already passionate about ridding Mercy Falls of the wolves, the ammunition he needs to get sharpshooters in helicopters to hunt the wolves down. Cole, who also happens to be a scientific genius, has been experimenting to find the possible cause of the shifting and believes he has accomplished a way to control it.  As the wolf hunt draws closer, Sam and Grace become convinced that the only way to save the pack is to lead them to a different place, and that the only way for that to happen is for Sam to transform back into the alpha wolf, and for Grace, who can communicate with him using only images, to guide him to lead the wolves to the new location.

While the story slows way down after the initial scene with Shelby’s attack on Olivia, the action picks up and rushes along in the last hundred pages, with a lot of suspense about who will survive the wolf hunt. The final pages, though, are anticlimactic. Shelby’s character gets shortchanged, which seems unfair since she was used to start off the book with a shock. The story of Isabel and Cole (the character I cared most about) has an unfinished feel. And after all Cole’s work on a possible cure, at the end we’re back to meningitis-infected blood.

Forever is the longest of the three books, and it feels that way.  Stiefvater’s descriptive powers are impressive, but, they’re not enough. In spite of the fact that she’s centered her story on Grace and Sam, both werewolves, theirs are not the characters transformed by the events that take place in the world she’s created in Mercy Falls.  The books in this series must be read in order to make any sense, but fans of the first two books will keep Forever flying off the shelf. Recommended. 

Contains:N/A

Review by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

 

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Scholastic Press; 1 edition, 2010
ISBN-10: 0545123283

Available: New Hardcover and Kindle

 

Linger is the second book in Maggie Stiefvater’s popular series The Wolves of Mercy Falls. While the first book was clearly a romance novel (albeit a flawed one) in which the main characters, Sam and Grace, alternate point of view and finally get their happy ending, Linger is… well, kind of a mess. You know there’s a problem when the author has to tell you in the prologue that the book is a love story.

Unlike Shiver, Linger is narrated not by two people falling in love, but by four different people- Grace, Sam, Isabel (sister to Jack, who died when she attempted to cure him of lycanthropy by injecting him with meningitis-infected blood) and Cole, a charismatic, self-destructive teen rock star going incognito who chose to become a werewolf. The additional points of view reveal that Grace really isn’t very interesting, and Sam isn’t much without her. I don’t find Isabel particularly likable or sympathetic, but she has a little more going for her, and it’s fascinating watching her reaction to Cole. Cole is a fantastic character- funny, sexy, disturbing, arrogant, intelligent, and self-destructive- and the best reason to finish the book. I hoped the story would center on Cole and Isabel’s developing attraction, but Stiefvater doesn’t give them the space within the story to work through their baggage and begin to pull together, because she’s still centering the storyline around Grace and Sam.

Stiefvater actually had to work to create a conflict for Grace and Sam to overcome- and the conflict is a combination of the once-bitten, never-turned Grace starting to feel the beginnings of lycanthropy make her ill, and Grace’s parents (who have been totally absent and completely oblivious of the fact that Sam’s sleeping in their house every night), discovering the two of them sleeping together and banning Grace from seeing Sam just as she’s about to finally turn into a wolf. The “weather changes us into wolves” theory is completely blown, but the cause of the shifting then seems completely random, so the end of the book is sudden and unsatisfying.

As in Shiver, Stiefvater’s language is vivid and lyrical, but Linger just doesn’t come together to form a compelling whole. Cole is a fantastic character, but it’s a heavy load for him to carry nearly 300 pages on his own, and he’s so vivid in comparison to everyone else that that’s really what happens. Still, for all its flaws, it kept me reading. Twilight lovers should enjoy Linger, but it’s best to read Shiver first.  Recommended.

Contains:n/a

Review by Kirsten Kowalewski


 

 

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater(1)

Scholastic, 2009

ISBN: 978-0545123273

Available: Hardcover, paperback, multiformat digital

 

Grace has been fascinated by wolves since they attacked her in her backyard six years ago- and especially by a wolf with yellow eyes that seems to keep watch over her.  Although she doesn’t know it, they are werewolves, whose change occurs not during the full moon, but when the temperature drops. 

 

Then there’s a second wolf attack. Jack Culpeper, well known if not well liked, disappears. Convinced that Jack has been killed by wolves, his father, Tom, instigates a wolf hunt. Grace’s wolf is wounded, and transforms into Sam, a boy not that much older than she is.  Naturally, they fall in love. And naturally, Jack is not dead- he has transformed into a werewolf, but without guidance from the pack. Unpleasant as just a high school kid, he becomes angry, dangerous, and unpredictable, and Sam feels a responsibility to reach out to Jack.  Jack’s sister, Isabel, demands Grace’s help in finding a cure for Jack’s lycanthropy. Grace, Sam, and Isabel theorize that high internal temperatures may be the cure, and Isabel acquires blood infected with bacterial meningitis to inject into Sam and Jack in hopes of curing them.

 

 Shiver has the elements to create a nice YA paranormal romance- girl meets wolf, girl and wolf fall in love, overcome obstacles, and get a happy ending. But the words got in the way of my engaging in the story.  First, Stiefvater writes in first person from the wolf’s point of view, and wolves don’t express themselves in words. In fact, later Sam is able to communicate images directly to Grace, if he’s a wolf. Second, although Stiefvater’s lyrical style can be pleasing, it can also be disruptive. For example, at one point Sam muses, “I was a leaking womb bulging with the promise of conscious thoughts…” Not only is that a metaphor I don’t think any teenage boy would ever come up with, but it’s such an unpleasant image that I actually stopped reading.

 

The “change with the temperature” idea is an interesting one, and the way the chapters are marked with the temperature at the time events are occurring is neat, but I could never figure out what the “trigger point” was for transformation. I also had a real problem with the ending. The bacterial meningitis kills Jack, but Sam, who is injected in wolf form and escapes, somehow survives and several weeks later comes back to Grace as a human. Naked. In the snow. Huh? I’m glad they got their happy ending, but I still can’t figure out how Sam survived. Even if he kicked the lycanthropy, it’s December in Minnesota… and he doesn’t even have frostbite. Still, if you can get past the giant plot holes on the way to the happy ending, Shiver is an interesting take on werewolves and a YA paranormal romance that the readers of Twilight will very much enjoy. Highly recommended for YA paranormal collections in public libraries and high school library media centers.

Contains: Violence, implied sex, language.

 

Reviewed by: Kirsten Kowalewski

 

 

 

 

Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore
Hyperion, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4231-1665-3
Available: New Hardcover and Kindle format.

        Danny (Dante) Grey and his sister, Jess, are half-vamp, half-wulf. Children of mixed race go through extensive genetic manipulation to eradicate their werewulf genes, and with Jess, the procedure was a success. She’s got the silvery hair and physical grace of a full vampyre, matching the beauty of her wealthy mother and stepfather. But Danny couldn’t finish the treatment course; darker skin and hair and a shorter, stockier frame surround his bright, vampyre blue eyes. He’s socially vampyre, though, and that’s what’s important.

        At Carpathian Night High School, wulves keep to themselves. Most vamps hate them, and there are very few humans. No other race could possibly understand the gruesome horror of the werewulf “change,” and the oppression they live under in a speciest society. Wulves are tattooed at birth to permanently identify them, and when their changes begin in adolescence, they register with the government and report monthly to secure, weapons-guarded compounds.

        The violent moon-change leaves permanent scars. Broken facial bones cause ridges, joints swell and become arthritic. But the brutality in the compounds is even worse: many die every month, and there are precious few options available. When Danny’s wulf side suddenly asserts itself, his happy, normal, life changes dramatically.

        Peter Moore’s novel, Red Moon Rising, is a gripping commentary on racism and social order, as well as a fresh look at the physicality of vampires and werewolves. Danny and his friends are characters of depth and realism, and Danny’s ordeal is excruciating. The climax is thrilling and the quality of suspense rates with the very best in YA or adult fiction. Moore’s style is flawless and engaging, and his themes are timeless and originally stated. The reader will beg for a sequel. Highly recommended.

Contains: Mild sexual content, mild to moderate physical violence.


Reviewed by: Sheila Shedd
 



 

Wereworld by Curtis Jobling

Puffin Books, 2010
ISBN: 978-0670013302

Available: New

Curtis Jobling is the creator of the children’s television show “Bob the Builder”, but with his young adult novel Wereworld, he’s gone in an entirely different direction. Wereworld introduces us to Drew, who turns into a werewolf after he is attacked by one. The beast kills his mother, and his father, stumbling onto the scene, thinks Drew did it and stabs him (non-fatally, of course, or there would be no book). Drew finds his way to Hogan, a boy about his age, and his skeptical father. On his travels, Drew is captured by the guards of Duke Bergan, a werelord who can shift at will between his wolf and human forms. The Duke reveals that Drew is the last of the werewolves. When Drew has his final showdown with the novel’s villain, it will make readers root even harder for the teenage protagonist.

 

This is a fast-paced coming of age story with an inside look at becoming a werewolf. Teens will find Drew easy to cheer for, because he’s very much an underdog and his story and struggles are compelling. This is the sort of book that is a great recommendation for teenage boys, although girls will enjoy Drew’s sensitive and caring character, as well. It’s the sort of thing they’ll read under the covers with a flashlight.

 

The familiar elements of epic fantasy will be comfortable for younger readers, as will the action-adventure oriented plot, with princes, princesses, castles, and kingdoms. It’s refreshing to see a wholesome adventure story with rich, page-turning mythology and world-building. The novel ends on a note that suggests a sequel, and readers will want to know what happens next. Highly recommended for upper elementary, middle school, and high school collections and for teen collections in public libraries. Ages 10 and up.

 

Contains: violence

 

Reviewed by: Darkeva

 



 

 

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2010

ISBN: 978-0316068680

Available: Hardcover, Kindle ebook

 

 

Sisters Red has a rocket blast of an opening, with a chaotic, first person view of a vicious werewolf attack on sisters Scarlett and Rosie. They survived, but their grandmother was brutally murdered, and Scarlett, in defending them, was badly scarred and lost an eye. Now Scarlett is obsessed with hunting and killing werewolves, called Fenris, who prey on pretty, vulnerable young girls. Rosie has been trained to hunt, but doesn’t have the passion for the hunt that her sister does. The story is told with chapters alternating between Scarlett’s and Rosie’s point of view. 

 

Enter the woodsman’s son. Silas, Scarlett’s trusted partner, has returned from a yearlong absence, and he doesn’t seem as invested in the hunt as he used to be. There’s a problem on the horizon, though- the Fenris seem to be getting organized. They’re looking for a “potential”, a male who has the, well, potential to become a Fenris if he’s bitten during a certain time. Scarlett, Rosie, and Silas don’t know who the potential is or how to identify him, but if they can, they’ll be able to use him as bait to eliminate large numbers of the Fenris. To make discovery of the potential more likely, they take off for the city. The move shakes things up. Scarlett, the expert hunter, is unable to successfully bait the Fenris with so many beautiful girls around. Silas pushes Rosie to expand her life beyond the hunt. And, predictably, Rosie and Silas fall in love. I would have expected the action to pick up in the city, as the critical time for identifying the potential approached, but instead, the pace of the story is dragged down by their fruitless searches. 

 

Pearce’s attempt to retell the Red Riding Hood story in an original way was enough to get me to suspend a whole lot of disbelief, but there does come a point at which it’s just too much. Two teenage girls who drop out of high school and live alone in the middle of nowhere after their grandmother is murdered are not going to go unnoticed, and Scarlett’s ignorance of Rosie and Silas’s relationship, when they’re sharing a small apartment, is difficult to swallow. There’s also an “ick” factor, which is that Silas is twenty-one and Rosie is sixteen. Pearce soft-pedals it, but even though he is a friend, Silas is also a predator, an adult taking advantage of Rosie’s confusion and mixed feelings, and this is never really addressed(although it certainly plays into the story).

 

The ending was unsatisfactory to me. While the climax is fast-paced and packed with action and intense emotion, there’s no real character growth or surprise when you get to the very end. Throughout the book, Scarlett refers to the Allegory of the Cave, describing herself as one of the few people who step outside the cave and see the light- the danger of the Fenris. But as the book ended, and Scarlett continued on, single-minded and unable to move beyond her obsession with the hunt, it seemed that the author had left her in the dark. Still, it’s a compelling story, and one that has provided me with food for thought. Certainly, it has more substance than many of the other popular supernatural titles for teens inhabiting the stacks. Recommended.for public library YA collections and high school library media centers.

 

Contains: Graphic violence, references to rape.

 

 

 

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Scholastic Press, 2009

ISBN: 0545123267

Available: New

 

 

    When she was small, Grace was attacked by wolves in her backyard. However, one wolf saved her. Since then, she has been obsessed with that wolf. When she finally meets him her life is dramatically changed.
    Steifvater has a new, interesting take on werewolf lore- instead of changing during the full moon, these wolves transform when the weather turns cold. Her take on Grace is interesting as well. Although she annoyed me at times with her aggressive behavior towards friends and family, it’s rejuvenating to see Grace take the initiative with Sam, since most of the current YA paranormal romances have spineless heroines who wait for the hero to initiate all the intimacy. However, in this book Grace is the one who instigates hugging, kissing, and cuddling.

    I found it unrealistic that Grace bought into werewolf lore so easily. It would make sense for her to have doubts, instead of believing that the wolf that saved her was actually a human inside. Also, Grace’s parents seem oblivious to everything that’s going on, and have practically no role in the book. Her father’s behavior is repulsive- he leaves Grace in a car baking in the sun, causing her to be hospitalized.

    Shiver is told from two different points of view- Grace’s and Sam’s. I disliked this because it gave too much away. I feel that this is why the story dragged, and I’ll admit that it dragged A LOT. If the reader had only Grace’s viewpoint, there would be some suspense. 

    Shiver was beautiful -absolutely beautiful. It’s similar to Twilight in that both books portray star-crossed lovers in a paranormal world, but I found Shiver to be a more pleasant read, due to its writing style. Not only that, it was less cheesy- no cliché, gag-inflecting phrases. If you're a die-hard romantic and a fan of Twilight, then I highly recommend this book. Shiver is definitely recommended for public libraries. Fans of Twilight will be ripping apart the waiting list for this book.

Readers advisory note: Readers who enjoy Shiver will probably enjoy Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause, the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer, and the yet-to-be-released sequels to the book, Linger and Forever.
Contains: Implied sex, violence

Review by Kakari

 

Red Rider's Hood by Neal Shusterman

Puffin, 2006

ISBN: 0142406783

Available: New

            Red Rider’s Hood is the second book in Neal Shusterman’s Dark Fusion series, which melds dark fantasy and horror with traditional fairytales. Red Rider’s Hood is a take on the story of Red Riding Hood.  In this version, Red, a sixteen year old boy finds himself thrust into the world of the supernatural when he tries to infiltrate The Wolves, a local gang of werewolves that has been terrorizing his neighborhood.  Red Rider’s Hood is a nice book for reluctant readers. It has plenty of action and the pacing is quick.  It grabs the reader easily, and the plot twists keep the story moving. Readers of Darren Shan’s Cirque du Freak books will want to check this one out.  Recommended.

Contains: Violence

 

 

The Wolving Time by Patrick Jennings
Scholastic, 2005
ISBN: 0439395569
Available: New and Used

    Outside a village in sixteenth- century France, thirteen year old Laszlo Emberek and his parents tend their sheep. They are a most unusual group of shepherds: Laszlo’s parents are werewolves, and Laszlo himself is anticipating the time when he too may choose to make the change. A Basque girl running away from the village’s cruel priest witnesses Laszlo’s mother’s change, but promises to keep the family’s secret. Although Laszlo’s parents fear the priest, they risk his disapproval by hiding her, and he retaliates by sending a search party to arrest them and burn them at the stake as werewolves and witches. There are scenes of terrible cruelty in The Wolving Time, as the priest and the town are determined to root out witches at any cost, and these contrast dramatically with the Embereks’ peaceful existence and respect for life. Laszlo’s choice to make the transformation from human to wolf is memorable, and his expanding awareness of the human world as well as the natural world add to this unusual coming-of-age story. The evil here comes not from the shapeshifters, but from human cruelty and fear. Contains: graphic descriptions of torture, vivid scenes of cruelty and witch-burning, and mild nudity during werewolf transformations. Grades 5-9. Recommended. Entry by Francesca the Librarian
 

 

 

 

The Wereling: Resurrection by Stephen Cole

Razorbill, April, 2005
ISBN: 1595140433

Available: New and Used

    The Wereling: Resurrection is the third book in the Wereling trilogy, Tom and Kate , still hunted by werewolves, go to Chicago to find out what is happening at  a meeting of pureblood werewolves arranged by the power-hungry werewolf Takapa.  Tapaka's evil plan involves a mummy body found in a peat bog, a group of missing scientists, and some German mystics.   Cole's final book in the series is just as gripping as the other two books, with its fast-paced plot and plenty of action.  This book also finally gives closure to the romantic tension between Tom and Kate.  There have been constant hints throughout the series that they have feelings for each other, but nothing comes of it because if Kate and Tom have sex then it will release Kate's werewolf side that she is seeking to suppress.  Contains: violence and a little gore.

 

 

 

 

The Wereling: Prey by Stephen Cole

Razorbill,March, 2005
ISBN: 1595140425

Available: New and Used

    The continued saga of Kate Folan, the daughter of werewolves,  and Tom Anderson, who has turned into a wereling, a werewolf whose humanity is able to dominate his werewolf form.  Kate and Tom are still on the run from Kate's mother. They are trying to find the mysterious Jicaque, a medicine man who might have the cure to Tom's lycanthropy, in Manhattan.  While in Manhattan, they are thrust into a plot by the werewolf Takapa, who is trying to raise an army of werewolves, using the gangs of New York as their building block.   Cole's second book is a solid addition to the series, with plenty of action and twists and turns to his story.  The Wereling series is definitely for the older teen set with passages of gore that may be too intense for younger readers.   Contains: Gore, violence.

 

 

The Wereling: Wounded by Stephen Cole

Razorbill, January, 2005
ISBN: 1595140417

Available: New and Used

    During a family camping trip, sixteen year old Tom Anderson goes off for a walk only to be chased by a bear and fall in to a river.  When Tom comes to he finds that he was rescued by the Folan family.   The Folans make excuses as to why Tom can't leave their house or contact his family. Finally, Kate Folan, who is Tom's age, warns him that he is being turned into a werewolf and needs to escape.  The Folans are a family of werewolves, and Kate's mother, Marcie, has  chosen Tom to be Kate's mate.  Tom and Kate flee the Folan household and are pursued by Kate's mother, who has alerted other werewolves across the country to hunt Tom and Kate.  Cole's story has a good consistent pacing and the Tom and Kate characters work well together. The Wereling does have a more hard horror edge and has more violence than Wolf Pack or Lone Wolf. There are two other books in the series ; The Wereling: Prey and The Wereling: Resurrection. Recommended for a highschool horror collection and a potential recommendation for those who liked Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. Contains: violence.

 

 

Lone Wolf by Edo Van Belkom

Tundra Books, October, 2005
ISBN: 0887767419

Available: New

    Lone Wolf is the sequel to Wolf Pack, This book follows four teenaged werewolves who try to adjust to life at Redstone High School.   The teens are all facing regular teen trauma. Harlan, the smallest of the Brock children, is being picked on by a school bully, Tora is facing off with a rival for a part in the school play, and Argusis trying to figure out his place in the family.  While all of these events are going on the family has to come together to face the threat that logging company Conservco poses to the forest outside of Redstone.   The challenges facing the Brock children are a bit more mundane--  issues such as bullying, competing at school events, and questioning one's place in their family.  Lone Wolf was written with just the right amount of humor and action.  It doesn't have the scares or horror factor of other werewolf books but teen readers will find the story compelling, and the story could be used for purposes of character education.  Contains: intimidation by werewolves, bullying, teen kissing.

 

 

Wolf Pack by Edo Van Belkom

Tundra Books, October, 2004
ISBN: 0887766692

Available: New

    During a forest fire, forest ranger Garrett Brock rescues four wolf cubs only to discover that they are no ordinary wolves- they are werwolves.  The werewolves, brothers Noble, Argus, and Harlan, and their sister, Tora are raised by Garrett and his wife Phyllis.   Several years later,  a glory-hungry geneticist, Dr. Edward Monk, witnesses and videotapes the werewolves, now teens, changing.   Monk then captures Tora in order to conduct experiments on her ,and it is up to the brothers to rescue her.   Wolf Pack is short fun werewolf story of only 184 pages, appropriate for  younger teens. and a great book to recommend to reluctant readers.  The plot moves quickly and will keep the reader's focus.  Wolf Pack is a winner of the Aurora Award, Canada's highest award for achievements in the fields of science fiction and fantasy.  Recommended for y/a and school library collections.  Contains: some intimidation and indications of torment. 

 

 

 

 

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
Laurel Leaf , September, 1999
ISBN: 0440226686
Available : New and Used

    Blood and Chocolate has become one of the core titles of any teen horror collection. The story follows Vivian, a teenage werewolf who has had to relocate to a Maryland suburb with her pack after an altercation where the actions of a few wild wolves brought the wrath of the human population upon them which resulted in the death of Vivian’s father who was the leader of the pack. Vivian, feeling increasingly distanced from those in the pack in her age range, starts to look outside of her community for friendship and romance. She finds it in Aiden, whose curiosity and openness to the supernatural world makes her think that he might accept her for what she is. This is a well-written book that deserves the popularity that it has earned. Klause has developed Vivian into a strong female character who becomes caught between two worlds that of werewolves and humanity. The pacing is fast  and the action stays constant enough that you stay engaged with the story. Recommended. Contains: violence, teen romance.
 

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