Summer of the Wolves, by Polly Carlson-Voiles; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers: New York, 2012; $15.99 Polly Carlson-Voiles’s Summer of the Wolves is a wonderful book about a twelve-year-old girl named Nika and her younger brother who were recently orphaned and are being sent to their long-lost uncle’s house in Minnesota for the summer. Nika’s uncle studies wolf migration patterns, and one day, when Nika joins her uncle to go observe a wolf in the wild, they find her dead, but they also find the dead wolf ’s pup. Nika and her Uncle Ian must bring the wolf pup back to their cabin and take care of it, so it won’t die, since it is now motherless. In the story, I felt that I could connect a lot with Nika, especially when Nika becomes close with Kahn, the motherless wolf pup. It reminds me of when my family got my German shepherd puppy named Bella. When Nika’s uncle says they must give Kahn to the conservation center where he works, Nika is very upset; I could never imagine having to get rid of Bella. One part of the story I found particularly good was when Nika and her friend Thomas plan to let loose skunks, coyotes, and wolves that a man named Bristo was illegally keeping. When Nika and Thomas go over to Bristo’s house to let all the animals loose, they also stumble upon a mountain lion. When they try to release it, it snaps at Nika, so Thomas and Nika decide to let her be. Hearing Bristo start to open the back door, Nika and Thomas run away but drop the pair of wire cutters they brought to open the cages. Eventually, Nika and Thomas confess to the police that they were the ones who let Bristo’s animals loose. In the end, they have to do community service for a couple of weeks to make up for it. While doing community service, they talk about the crime and the punishment but still agree that it was well worth it. Throughout the book, I agreed with Nika a lot, especially when she decides she wants to release Kahn back into the wild with Luna, another wolf that Nika and Thomas discovered, instead of bringing Kahn to the conservation center. That would be such a hard decision, but in the end it would probably be the best thing. I think that animals, especially wolves, should not be kept in captivity but in the wild. As the saying goes, “If you love something, set it free.” Nika decided that if she really did love Kahn, she should let him be where he is happiest, the wild. When Nika tells her Uncle Ian about her plan, he disagrees. I always felt bad for Nika when her Uncle Ian treated her like a little kid. Uncle Ian would never trust Nika to take Kahn outside of a fenced area. When her uncle had to go to work or to conferences, he always had vet assistants and people who worked with him stay over at the cabin to take care of Kahn, even if it was only for a couple of hours. She was always trying to prove to him that she was mature enough to handle Kahn. I feel that by the end of the book, Uncle Ian finally sees that she can handle Kahn herself and is becoming a young adult. Summer of the Wolves is one of my favorite books of all time! After the first chapter of Summer of the Wolves, I simply could not put this book down! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves animals, nature, and stories of hardship. Sarah Haynes, 12Weare, New Hampshire
Book-Reviews
The Blackhope Enigma
The Blackhope Enigma, by Teresa Flavin; Templar Publishing: United Kingdom, 2011; $12.70 What? When? Why? These were the thoughts running through my head as I flipped through The Blackhope Enigma. Written by Teresa Flavin, this novel is a perfect example of when reality and fantasy clash and the result is beautiful. What is an enigma? An enigma is something that is puzzling or mystifying that just cannot be explained in any logical way. The title was perfect since enigmas play such a pivotal role in the book. How did Sunni’s brother disappear into the painting? Why have skeletons appeared throughout the centuries only in the Mariner’s chamber of Blackhope Tower, the same room that her brother vanished in? And who is the suspicious stranger who claims that he wants to help her? My favorite part of this book is the fact that the characters are relatable. Sunni Forest is no child of a prophecy or royal princess. Instead, she is simply a regular thirteen-year-old girl who likes to draw. When she and Blaise see her pesky little brother disappear into a painting, she reacts the way any regular thirteen-year-old would react: with fear and wonder. I have found that having a relatable character is what drives a story forward and makes the reader want more, and Teresa Flavin is a master of this. I have never had much of an interest in painting, partly because I am horrible at it, but this book revealed a different side of art that interested me: the centuries of slightly insane artists and their eccentric life stories. It has made me think further than a painting when I see one and more towards who painted it. The story is set in Blackhope Tower, a centuries-old manor in Scotland. Unlike some readers, I’ve been to Scotland before, and after visiting Holyrood Palace I could vividly imagine the mist and mystery surrounding Blackhope Tower. I think the setting enhanced the story because castles are often associated with inexplicable mysteries and strange events. Certainly, Blackhope Tower is no stranger to odd events. From the underground labyrinth to the ancient skeletons that appeared every few centuries, this castle might even be the strangest of all castles. Be warned, just because I enjoyed this book doesn’t mean that I am without complaints. The antagonist, Angus Bellini, felt rather cliched and underdeveloped, as if the author hadn’t taken the time to plot him out fully. I personally prefer stories in which the villains have motives other than being bent on one certain thing. Angus has only one goal: finding Corvio’s lost paintings and selling them for money. Overall though, I truly love this book. It has many of the key elements that I want in a book: mystery, intriguing and realistic characters, an interesting plot, as well as the thread of fantasy running through it. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys creative characters and unexpected plot twists in fantasy books. I certainly do. That’s why I am going to pick up the second book in the series right away. Jessica Bernt, 12Brampton, Ontario, Canada
The Lucy Variations
The Lucy Variations, by Sara Zarr; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: New York, 2013; $18 An inspiring tale of a young musician finding her place in this crazy world, The Lucy Variations is a journey about finding yourself and accomplishing your dreams no matter what giant obstacles are blocking your way. Lucy’s little brother’s new music teacher, Will, plays a big part. He helps Lucy find a side of herself she has long forgotten, the musical side, a side that used to bring her happiness. He helps resurrect Lucy in a sense. A major question asked time and time again in the book is, “What do you love?” For Lucy, the answer is music. The Lucy Variations got me thinking—what do I love? Well, I love reading. I tried to narrow down what I loved about reading, like Will had Lucy do. Although narrowing down the reasons proved easy for Lucy, it was a lot harder for me. I just love everything about reading. I love how when I’m reading, I’m no longer myself. I can be anyone, do anything, go anywhere; and that is just one of the best feelings in the world. I love how within one page, a strong author can make you go from laughing to crying. In fact, I don’t think there’s anything I love more than the first pages of a good book. I love endings too though, because there’s always more to the tale, and I’m the one who gets to write it within the pages of my imagination. The reason I love The Lucy Variations so much is the novel allowed me to experience everything I adored in a good book in just 304 pages. As I kept thinking about the question—what do I love?— more things came to mind than just reading. I thought about playing my guitar and singing, spending time with my friends and family, taking pictures on my iPod Touch, stupid funny movies, traveling to new places, and creating lasting memories. Like Lucy, realizing what I truly love opened my eyes to a whole new perspective. So often, people walk around without ever truly knowing what they love. They go through the motions as if each day is a death sentence, like they have no choice about how their day will go. The Lucy Variations is such a good reminder to us that there is so much to love about life. If we just choose to stop cowering away from our fears, and eliminate them like Lucy did, we can finally focus on the good things that bring us joy and peace. One thing I particularly didn’t like about the book is how things ended with Will and Lucy. In the end, we find out Will has been using Lucy to gain fame through her talent. I was a little crushed, well more than a little, because throughout the whole book Will was one of the only people Lucy truly trusted, and then he turned on her too. Although that wasn’t how I anticipated things ending between them, I still think the author did the right thing. The conclusion demonstrated to Lucy that, even though people might hurt her, the good memories stored in her heart would fuel her to keep persevering. The incident made Lucy stronger and gave her the will to excel at her goals. Overall, The Lucy Variations was an amazing book, one that I will read over and over again for years to come. I recommend this book to readers ages twelve and up who enjoy contemporary coming-of-age fiction. Kaylee Ayres, 12Cape Coral, Florida
