Wolves, Boys, & Other Things that might Kill MeAuthor: Kristen ChandlerPublisher: Viking, 2010Genre: YA ContemporaryKJ Carson lives an outdoor lover’s dream. The only daughter of a fishing and wildlife guide, KJ can hold her own on the water or in the mountains near her hometown outside Yellowstone National Park. But when she meets the shaggy-haired, intensely appealing Virgil, KJ loses all self-possession. And she’s not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that they’re assigned to work together on a school newspaper article about the famous wolves of Yellowstone. As KJ spends time with Virgil, she also spends more time getting to know a part of her world that she always took for granted . . . and she begins to see herself and her town in a whole new light.
KJ’s always been fascinated by the wolves
around Yellowstone. When the town starts a campaign to get rid of them, KJ
knows she can’t be the quiet little outcast anymore. She starts a column about
wolves in her school’s newspaper, and gets to work with the handsome new
transfer Virgil, who is as mysterious and fascinating to her as the wolves. But
the campaign against wolves turns violent, and a serious misunderstanding
pushes Virgil away.
Kristen Chandler’s Wolves,
Boys, & Other Things that might Kill Me is a great coming of age
novel.
Books are my escape, so I usually
don’t like to read novels about real people with real problems. But every once
in a while I do, and they’re gems in my bookshelves. This is one such book. I
loved KJ’s growth through the novel, how she goes from being a quiet, ‘let
things be’ kind of girl, to an outspoken, ‘I’ll fight for what’s right’ young
woman. And she’s not only dealing with her teenage problems, but also with
something bigger—the Wolf Reintroduction Program. We get to hear both sides of
the arguments, with the environmentalists on one side, and the ranchers on the
other side. Then we have KJ, who starts viewing the wolves as people. The
parallel she makes between herself and the Cinderella wolf added an interesting
layer to the story; about how wolves are hunters and killers and people are
too. This is how she learns not to back down.
There are romantic tones to the story,
but they take a backseat to the bigger problems. Virgil is a new student at
KJ’s school, and she’s totally smitten by him from the moment she sees him.
They get to work together on the wolf column for the school’s newspaper, and
have some interesting times. But then she makes a mistake, and he pulls away.
This leaves her feeling quite alone, as her father is usually off camping and
guiding tourists and stuff. What I loved about Virgil is that he didn’t give
up. He still continued to help KJ, even though he was upset about her
misconception.
The ending was the part I didn’t like.
It was too ‘real’ as in no happy endings for me. But the quote below was great.
This comparison of wolves and humans is a big theme that is carried throughout
the book, and I loved it. Overall, it’s a fun and quick read, with a nice
environmentalist message that add deeper meaning to this YA novel.
Favorite Quotes:
~Wolves
and Humans~
“You know what makes wolves
magnificent?”
“Good teeth?”
“They’re great killers.”
Virgil rubs his chin. “Twisted…but
interesting.”
“Lots of animals are stronger, faster,
smarter, or more exotic than wolves, but the way they hunt…that’s what makes us
hate and love them.”
Virgil doesn’t talk for a while. I
love that about him. I love listening to him think, expecially when he’s
thinking about something I said. I lie back in the snow, so I can see him. I
want to remember everything about how he looks right now. The scar on his cheek
is an asymmetric dimple. Like everything else about him, it’s beautiful to me.
Finally he says, “That’s because we’re killers, too.”
“Some of us are. But we get to decide.
A wolf just is.”
