Warcross by Marie Lu

Pages: 353

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Science Fiction / Thriller

Notes for Parents: There is “virtual” violence (when they’re playing the Warcross game), and some actual violence, but nothing too graphic.

The Inside Cover

The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bouty hunter, tracking down Warcross players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty-hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. To make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.

Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem… and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in a series. It takes place in the same universe (but an earlier era) as the Legend series. You don’t have to have read the Legend series to understand this one.

What’s good?

The virtual reality game Warcross has become a global industry and its championships is a high stakes international event in this future world. Emika is a strong, resilient young woman who accidentally gets noticed by the games creator and drawn into a mystery. There’s plenty of action, danger, tension, and excitement. The plot is simple and is surrounded by several strong sub-plots. Emika is a great character – clever, perceptive, and brave. The technology is easy to understand, as is the sla . The ending presents some interesting moral questions.

Best Part: Emika.

What isn’t good?

This is definitely a plot-driven story. While the main character, Emika, is well-drawn, her teammates and other secondary characters are not very developed. The mystery is good, but the romance is weak. A couple of big reveals shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise since the author drops several hints well ahead of time.

Worst part: I didn’t like the romance.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☺☻ (4/5)

This was a hard book to put down. It was a fast-pace, virtual Hunger Games-like adventure that was easy to read. It was always moving forward, even when the story was looking back. I loved the main character, Emika, and enjoyed the diversity of the other characters. Definitely recommended.

Lu, Marie. Warcross. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2017. (Hardcover)

The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag

Pages: 213

Intended Audience: Tweens and Teens

Genre: Graphic Novel / Supernatural

Notes for Parents: Some mature themes

The Back Cover

Everyone in Aster’s family is born with magic. Boys grow up to be shapeshifters; girls into witches. No exceptions.

But Aster can’t seem to get the hang of shapeshifting. Instead, he spends his time spying on the witchery lessons the girls are getting. He seems to have a knack for casting spells and wants to know more, but the only person he can share his growing gift with is Charlie, a girl from the non-magical side of town.

Then, during a night of shapeshifting practice, one of the boys goes missing. Aster knows he can search for the boy with the witchcraft he’s been secretly learning. Could breaking his family’s most important tradition save the day—or ruin everything?

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the author’s first middle-grade graphic novel.

What’s good?

This beautiful graphic novel uses fantasy to explore gender issues and other topics like friendship, family, secrets, and power. The plot is simple but with a complexity of themes, including gender roles, non-conformity, self-acceptance, and courage. The characters are well-developed, and very likeable. The novel is a quick and easy read with good illustrations.

Best Part: There is a great example of what we can become (a monster!) if we’re forced to deny who we really are.

What isn’t good?

There isn’t anything I didn’t like. The drawings aren’t as crisp as the kind of style I prefer, but they’re still good and the colors do a good job of setting the mood. If anything, I wish there was more to the story.

Worst part: None.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☺☻ (4/5)

There’s so much in this one little story. It took me less than an hour to read, but I found in packed full of meaningful symbolism and excellent imagery that left me with lots to think about. Definitely recommended.

Ostertag, Molly Knox. The Witch Boy. New York: Graphix, 2017.

The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Pages: 223

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Real life / Social issues

Notes for Parents: Contains some mature content.

The Back Cover

Four very different lives are about to become entangled.

Ruth has a secret that she can’t hide forever.

Dora wonders if she can ever truly escape where she comes from.

Alyce can’t bring herself to leave the life she’s always known.

Hank and his brothers decide it’s safer to run away.

They live in Alaska, on the cold edge of America, where each one must find the strength, courage, and heart to survive.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This book was a William C. Morris Award Finalist. It was also a New York Public Library Best 50 Books for Teens selection, a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best book, and a Shelf Awareness Best Teen Books of the Year selection.

What’s good?

This is a beautifully written, visual story about a group of teens living in 1970s Alaska. Their lives are simple but their problems are complex, though recognizable to every generation. As their connections to each other emerge, the story becomes a fascinating tale of friendship, love, survival, and the art of choosing your own family. Tough subjects are covered – death, alcoholism, violence, abuse, poverty – but the story never gets dark. It’s emotional, but always hopeful. Every character is important and every chapter has a purpose. Diversity, culture, and traditions are subtle themes. The ending is heartfelt.

Best Part: The chapter titles. (e.g. “Ballerina Fish Slayer” and “If You Must Smoke, Smoke Salmon”)

What isn’t good?

The book was interesting – quite engrossing, in fact – but there was very little excitement or action. The pace is slow, but steady.

Worst part: Nothing terrible.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☺☻ (4/5)

I can best describe this book as warm and honest. It’s easy to read and easy to understand, and it is to the point with no unnecessary storytelling. It’s a sad but beautiful tale with a hopeful ending. Definitely recommended.

Hitchcock, Bonnie-Sue. The Smell of Other People’s Houses. New York: Ember, 2016.

Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

Pages: 301

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Historical / Mystery

Notes for Parents: This is about the Holocaust so it contains some mature content.

The Back Cover

Amsterdam, 1943. Hanneke spends her days finding and delivering sought-after black-market goods to paying customers, nights hiding the true nature of her work from her concerned parents, and every waking moment mourning her boyfriend, who was killed on the Dutch front lines when the German army invaded. Her illegal work keeps her family afloat, and Hanneke also likes to think of it as a small act of rebellion against the Nazis.

On a routine delivery, a client asks Hanneke for help. Expecting to hear that Mrs. Janssen wants her to find meat or kerosene, Hanneke is shocked by the older woman’s frantic plea to find a person: a Jewish teenager Mrs. Janssen has been hiding, who has vanished without a trace from a secret room. Hanneke initially wants nothing to do with such a dangerous task but is ultimately drawn into a web of mysteries and stunning revelations—where the only way out is through.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This novel won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery.

What’s good?

Hanneke does what she must to make sure that she and her family survive the German occupation of the Netherlands, which includes the dangerous task of finding black-market goods for her neighbors. An opportunity arises that makes her realize that she can be part of something bigger. But will she take the risk? The pace was brisk and the plot had me captivated from beginning to end. There were many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. The story touched on themes of friendship, courage, loneliness, truth, romance, and of course the cruelty and racism of the Nazis and their supporters. All of the characters were important and brilliantly drawn, even Bas, Hanneke’s boyfriend who died before the story even begins. The ending was well done.

Best Part: Hanneke was an excellent example of a strong, female character.

What isn’t good?

The entirety of World War II is extremely complex, but this story is not. We get a glimpse of what the Dutch Jews are going through, but we’re given no real sense of the terror they are facing. We also see just a small pocket of the resistance and what they do, and never learn about the vastness and intricacy of the revolution.

Worst part: None.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☺☺ (5/5)

I loved it! I was engrossed in the story from the moment it started. This is an easy-to-read, easy-to-understand story set in a very complicated time in world history. The actions taken by these teenagers are perilous but believable. The story was heart-breaking, heart-stopping, and well-written. Definitely recommended.

Hesse, Monica. Girl in the Blue Coat. New York: Little, Brown, & Company, 2017.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Pages: 599

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Science Fiction / Thriller

Notes for Parents: Contains lots of violence that may be too much for sensitive readers.

The Back Cover

<ERROR>

AND WITH NO FURTHER OPTION THEY HAVE TURNED TO ME.

The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that’s a little more than an ice-covered speck. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, exes Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to escape on the evacuating fleet.

PLUCKED ME BACK FROM THE BLACK THEY LEFT ME IN. THINKING I WILL SAVE THEM.

But their problems are just beginning. The fleet’s AI has gone crazy, a deadly plague has broken out on one of the ships, and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on.

AND I WILL. OF COURSE I WILL.

As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

AM I NOT MERCIFUL?

<ERROR>

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

The novel is written in epistolary format, meaning it’s made up of transcripts, diary entries, memos, reports, illustrations, webpages, terminal read-outs, emails, instant messages and more. This is the first book in the Illuminae Files trilogy.

What’s good?

Kady is a sassy, brave, and emotional lead character. Her determination to not only save Ezra, but save the ships and all the people aboard them is the epicenter of this fast-paced thriller. Heart-stopping moments are mixed with heart-break, danger, lies, fear, grief, and desperation. Actions create doubts about morality – is it okay to do bad things for the greater good? – and AIDAN’s twisted logic brings into question what constitutes humanity. The visual format of the story lends itself well to the tension, giving fragments of information forcing the reader to piece things together, just like the characters.

Best Part: I like how the swear words in the reports are blacked out.

What isn’t good?

Some pages fly by and others have such minute details that it slows the pace. There’s lots of information to pay attention to, and lots of tech talk, short forms, and slang that force the reader to work hard to understand what’s happening. There’s no shortage of violence and painful deaths—which isn’t necessarily a bad thing—but readers should be aware.

Worst part:  Nothing was terrible.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☺☻ (4/5)

This was unexpectedly riveting. However, I’m not sure I want to make a habit of reading this format because I was exhausted by the end. It was a great story with strong characters and plenty of suspense, but it was also a challenging read that requires attention to detail. It was a unique experience that I definitely recommend trying at least once.

Kaufman, Amie and Jay Kristoff. Illuminae. New York: Ember, 2015.

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott

Pages: 340

Intended Audience: Adult

Genre: Suspense

Notes for Parents: The main character is an adult, and the story has coarse language, some sexuality, and mature themes.

The Back Cover

How far will you go to achieve a dream? That’s the question a celebrated coach poses to Katie and Eric Knox after he sees their daughter, Devon, a gymnastics prodigy and Olympic hopeful, compete. For the Knoxes, there are no limits—until a violent death rocks their close-knit gymnastics community and everything they have worked so hard for is suddenly at risk.

As rumors swirl among the other parents, Katie tries frantically to hold her family together while also finding herself irresistibly drawn to the crime itself. What she uncovers—about her daughter’s fears, her own marriage, and herself—forces Katie to consider whether there’s any price she isn’t willing to pay to achieve Devon’s dream.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

The author is best known as a crime writer, but is also a blogger and journalist.

What’s good?

This is a disturbing story about parents who discover how deeply they’ve become invested in their daughter’s future as an elite gymnast. The plot reveals gymnastics as a subculture that begins at a young age and is full of stress, physical pain, sacrifice, determination, rivalry, and privilege. This is mixed with the world of teenage girls—self-esteem issues, sexuality, gossip, jealousy, back-stabbing, and drama. The characters are vivid and well-drawn. Devon, the gymnast, is cold and focused, while her mom Katie is hopeful and a bit clueless. Dad Eric is motivated by anxiety. And Devon’s little brother Drew is the forgotten, invisible child. Fellow gymnast mom, Gwen is an instigator that pushes the tension higher. The writing is good, the plot is solid, and the ending is provocative.

Best Part: Drew.

What isn’t good?

The action is predictable. Oddly, that didn’t ruin the story. The fascinating part is watching mom Katie as she realizes the truths about everything and everyone around her—her daughter’s desire, her husband’s desperation, her son’s observations…it’s like watching a train wreck. The pace was a bit slow to start, but it picks up. With the exception of Drew, I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable.

Worst part: I don’t understand why it mattered where Katie was standing when Devon’s accident happened.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☻☻ (3/5)

It started slow, but by the end I was riveted. This is ultimately a story about relationships and the things we do for the people we care about.  It raised some interesting questions about what parents and spouses are willing to do to maintain a textbook façade. It wasn’t the mystery I expected, but it was a compelling story. 

Abbott, Megan. You Will Know Me. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2010.

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

Pages: 377

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Historical / Supernatural / Mystery

Notes for Parents: Includes some mature content.

The Back Cover

Faith Sunderly leads a double life. To most people, she is reliable, dull, trustworthy - a proper young lady who knows her place as inferior to men. But inside, Faith is full of questions and curiosity, and she cannot resist mysteries: an unattended envelope, an unlocked door. She knows secrets no one suspects her of knowing. She knows that her family moved to the close-knit island of Vane because her famous scientist father was fleeing a reputation-destroying scandal. And she knows, when her father is discovered dead shortly thereafter, that he was murdered.
In pursuit of justice and revenge, Faith hunts through her father's possessions and discovers a strange tree. The tree bears fruit only when she whispers a lie to it. The fruit of the tree, when eaten, delivers a hidden truth. The tree might hold the key to her father's murder - or it may lure the murderer directly to Faith herself.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

A few of the awards this book has won include: Costa Book of the Year (2015); LA Times Book Prize for YA Literature (2016); a Carnegie Medal Nominee (2016); YA Book Prize Nominee (2016); and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction (2016).

What’s good?

It’s a gothic mystery set on a bleak island off the coast of England. The main character, Faith, is a passionate, spirited, and curious teen who dreams of being a naturalist like her father. After her father dies and she learns about a mysterious tree he’s been hiding, the adventure begins. The characters are strong, the mystery is dark, and the plot is winding, but easy to understand. The writing is sophisticated with beautiful imagery and period vocabulary. The tension thickens with danger and deceit as Faith closes in on the truth. The ending is full of questions, but still satisfying.

Best Part: “His words were lifeless pebbles on an endless beach.”  (pg. 141)

What isn’t good?

It was slow, especially the first third of the book. We know from the back cover description that Faith’s father dies and she discovers the lie tree. Her father doesn’t die until more than 100 pages in, and she doesn’t discover the tree for another 50 pages after that. Only then does the pace pick up as Faith uses the powers of the tree to solves the mystery of her father’s death.

Worst part: the pace

Recommendation ☺☺☺☻☻ (3/5)

I almost gave up around page 80 because it felt like the story was taking forever to get going, but I toughed it out long enough to get to the good stuff. Once Faith found the tree and was convinced her father was murdered, the story got much more interesting. By the end, I was glad that I’d continued. 

Hardinge, Frances. The Lie Tree. New York: Scholastic, 2016.

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs

Pages: 190

Intended Audience: Tweens & Teens

Genre: Supernatural

Notes for Parents: Some unusual content that may be disturbing to sensitive readers

The Back Cover

Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. The origins of the first ymbryne. These are but a few of the truly brilliant and haunting stories in Tales of the Peculiar—known to hide information about the peculiar world—first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series.

Riggs now invites you to share his secrets of peculiar history, with a collection of original stories in this deluxe volume of Tales of the Peculiar, as collected and annotated by Millard Nullings, ward of Miss Peregrine and scholar of all things peculiar.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

Many of the stories include annotations and illustrations.

What’s good?

The best description I’ve heard for these stories is “quirky in a deadpan way.” These ten short stories are unique and easy-to-read folktales of the unusual people found in the world of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The stories range from funny to macabre, and almost all come with a life lesson. Tales include a giant who helps animals, the historic fight between pigeons and humans, a classic (sort of) princess story, a ghost story (with a twist, of course), and a community of cannibals. All include strong characterization, diversity, beautiful illustrations, and several annotations.

Best Part: The copyright page stays in character. “Printed in a nomad’s tent in the desert of Lop, known to some as the Great Lop Depression, extending eastward along the foot of the Kuruk-Tagh to the formerly terminal Tarim Basin in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, an almost perfectly horizontal expanse.”

What isn’t good?

I can’t really think of anything that wasn’t good. I liked some of the stories better than others, but I didn’t dislike any of them. I guess my only complaint would be that I wanted more.

Worst part: None.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☺☺ (5/5)

You don’t need to know the novels to enjoy these unusual short stories from the Peculiar world, but if you’ve read the novels, some of the tales give a deeper insight into characters and situations from the books. The stories are short, entertaining and wonderfully whimsical. The author has a great talent for storytelling. Definitely recommended.

Riggs, Ransom. Tales of the Peculiar. New York: Syndrigast Publications, 2017.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Pages: 433

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: contemporary; romance; coming-of-age

Notes for Parents: Contains some language and mature scenes

The Inside Cover

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan…

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world; a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words…and she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This story has a companion novel called Carry On.

What’s good?

Complex relationships between well-developed characters highlight this story about a girl out on her own for the first time. Cath spends most of her time writing fan-fiction (her stories are very popular online), but she’s forced to open her eyes to the world in front of her when her twin sister decides they should live in separate dorms in university. This is a character-driven story that sees Cath forced to make friends, explore romance, and reconsider the dynamics of the relationships she has with her mentally ill father and absent mother. The dialogue is superb, full of wit and humor. The romance is a bit flimsy, but still sweet. And the pace is good.

Best Part: The dialogue.

What isn’t good?

The dialogue is awesome, but the descriptions are not. In fact, some lines were down right cheesy. The plot is weak and predictable. Nothing unexpected happens. While the romance was cute, she was all basket case and he was all perfection (despite having been caught kissing another girl!).  

Worst part: Nothing was terrible.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☻☻ (3/5)

In the end, this is a strong coming-of-age story. Cath becomes more determined to live outside of her fanfiction world, and sees the benefit of strengthening her relationships and her writing. The fandom is an interesting thread that weaves through the story, sometimes acting as a third wheel, but often being the catalyst for change. I enjoyed the story.

Rowell, Rainbow. Fangirl. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2013.

Hidden Figures: Young Readers' Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly

Pages: 198

Intended Audience: Mature tweens and up

Genre: Non-fiction; historical

Notes for Parents: Contains some mature content

The Back Cover

From World War II through NASA’s golden age, four African-American women confidently and courageously stepped into the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (now known as NASA).

Their job? To provide the mathematical calculations that would help increase airplane production during wartime and eventually send the United States into space for the very first time. Hidden Figures follows the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who participated in some of the United States’ greatest aeronautic successes. These women lived through and persevered against the backdrop of some of the biggest movements ever to shape our nation’s history: the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, and the fight for gender equality.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

I read the Young Readers’ Edition. Hidden Figures inspired the movie of the same name.

What’s good?

America’s aeronautics program became an important field during the war and it needed a large number of mathematicians to do the calculations needed to improve airplane design. Women with math degrees usually became high school teachers, but when World War II broke out, many men went to war, leaving important job opportunities open to women for the first time. This is the story of four of these women, black women, who worked at NACA (which would eventually become NASA) as “computers” – mathematicians who calculated complex problems. These women, despite the importance of their jobs, struggled constantly against sexism and racism in the workplace. The Young Readers’ Edition is easy to read, has small chapters, and includes pictures.

Best Part: The personal stories.

What isn’t good?

It’s dry. There is a lack of storytelling that leaves the reader disengaged despite the fascinating subject matter. Facts, technical terms, and process descriptions make up most of the chapters, leaving only a little room for the personal struggles of the courageous women who broke race barriers (as well as sound barriers!) in their pursuit of the American dream.

Worst part: I hear the movie is better than the book.

Recommendation ☺☺☻☻☻(2/5)

This is a mesmerizing story that unfortunately became bogged down in too much technical jargon. We learn about the personal lives of the women at NACA, but not enough to offset the tremendous amount of facts that get dumped into every chapter. I would have liked to know more about the fear, the frustration, and the strong will it must have taken to go to work each day in a place that treated the women as lesser than for being women, and even lower for being black, despite the incredible contributions they were making to the field.

Shetterly, Margot Lee. Hidden Figures: Young Readers’ Edition. New York: Scholastic, 2016.

Red Wolf by Jennifer Dance

Pages: 240

Intended Audience: Mature tweens and up

Genre: Historical / Indigenous issues

Notes for Parents: Contains some mature content

The Back Cover

In the late 1800s, both Native people and wolves are being forced from the land. Starving and lonely, an orphaned timber wolf is befriended by a boy named Red Wolf. But under the Indian Act, Red Wolf is forced to attend a residential school far from the life he knows, and the wolf is alone once more. Courage, love, and fate reunite the pair, and they embark on a perilous journey home. But with winter closing in, will Red Wolf and Crooked Ear survive? And if they do, what will they find?

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

The back cover description is a little deceiving. The story is mostly about Red Wolf growing up in the residential school system and how that affects his relationship with his family. Crooked Ear is a thread that follows Red Wolf throughout his journey.

What’s good?

While this is a middle school-level book, the nature of the content means some younger readers may not fully understand the gravity of what’s happening. This is an excellent introduction to the residential school experience and an important part of our history that every Canadian needs to know. It’s easy to read and takes a simple approach to the heart-breaking truth about the Canada’s attempt to wipe out its indigenous culture. The story of the wolf, Crooked Ear, parallels the story of the boy in that wolves were also seen as dirty and savage and white settlers set out to slaughter them, not recognizing the importance of wolves to the land’s ecosystem.

Best Part: The grandfather’s stories.

What isn’t good?

The pace is slow and the writing is choppy. The constant brutality at the residential school is difficult to read, especially since Red Wolf’s feelings about it are never fully explored. This could be because he was so young at first, but a deeper understanding of how the abuse and neglect affected him personally would have strengthened the character and the plot.

Worst part: The pace.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☻☻ (3/5)

Wolves and natives were seen as dangerous and savage by European settlers. The goal became to “tame” the natives and kill the wolves in order for the settlers to feel safe. Red Wolf’s story is a glimpse into what would eventually amount to a culture genocide that stripped the native peoples of their land, their language, and their traditions. It’s an important story, and this novel is a good introduction to that history.

Dance, Jennifer. Red Wolf. Toronto: Dundurn 2014.