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