Grace has always had an interest in the wolves that lived in the wood behind her house. She watched for them and, in later years, watched out for them, especially the one with the stunning yellow eyes. When wolves kill her classmate's brother, the town goes crazy and begins to hunt the wolves. Grace just cannot allow that to happen and steps into the situation to protect the wolves, coming away with an understanding that the wolves are not just wolves, but young men and women who change into wolves as the temperatures dip and the weather becomes icy cold. The young man with the yellow eyes, Sam, becomes Grace's boyfriend and so begins a direct connection to the strange group of people who live their lives in two worlds. Her classmate calls on Grace to explain what's happened to her brother Jack, who may now be a wolf himself. Told from the points of view of the two protagonists, this novel explores the love story between Grace and Sam, but also introduces a world where werewolves exist as part of the natural world, creatures to be loved and feared. The subtlety of the fantasy intertwines with a concern for wolves and the difficult existence of being human and animal. Shiver is a teen love story that is difficult to put down, gently haunting its readers with the agony of lost identity and a hope for the impossible. Reviewer: Janis Flint-Ferguson
Children's Literature - Janis Flint-Ferguson
Stiefvater leaves the faeries of Lament and Ballad for a lyrical tale of alienated werewolves and first love. For years, Grace has been fascinated by the yellow-eyed wolf that saved her from its pack when she was a child. Sam, bitten by a wolf as a boy, is that wolf. Long obsessed with each other at a distance, they finally meet after a wolf hunt (inspired by the apparent death of a local teen) sends a wounded and temporarily human Sam into Grace's arms. Their young love is facilitated by Grace's hands-off parents (“Once upon a time, I would've leaped at the rare opportunity of curling up with Mom on the couch. But now, it sort of felt like too little, too late,” Grace muses), but threatened by two linked crises: the fact that Sam will soon lose the ability to become human and the instability of a new lycanthrope. Stiefvater skillfully increases the tension throughout; her take on werewolves is interesting and original while her characters are refreshingly willing to use their brains to deal with the challenges they face. Ages 13–up. (Aug.)
Grace and Sam met six years ago when she was attacked by werewolves. Sam changed from a yellow-eyed wolf to a yellow-eyed boy and carried her home. Although bitten, Grace survived and did not change, the only werewolf victim ever to do so. She has a more developed sense of smell, improved hearing, is stronger physically, but she is still a girl, only now a girl connected to a wolf, her guardian who watches her every winter. When Grace finally meets Sam again in human form, it is in the fall of her seventeenth year. Sam, attacked and forcibly changed when he was seven, has grown up spending his winters with Beck, his werewolf mentor, running through the woods with the pack, and his summers in human form, learning how to read, write, and become a man. The chapters have temperatures for headings because these werewolves are turned, not by a full moon, but by the cold, and there is plenty of cold in Mercy Falls, Minnesota. Also the number of times they can change is limited, and this change may be Sam's last in human form. After the wolves attack a local teenager, Sam is shot and winds up in Grace's arms, literally. She saves him, but the days are getting colder and the nights longer. Neither can bear the thought of being separated, but one cannot argue with Mother Nature. The first volume in The Wolves of Mercy Falls series is yet another winner for the author of Lament. (Flux/Llewellyn, 2008)/VOYA December 2008). This novel is perfect for Twilight fans or a Romeo and Juliet list. It is sensuous, intense, riveting, and so very satisfying. Reviewer: Bonnie Kunzel
Gr 9 Up—Grace, 17, loves the peace and tranquility of the woods behind her home. It is here during the cold winter months that she gets to see her wolf—the one with the yellow eyes. Grace is sure that he saved her from an attack by other wolves when she was nine. Over the ensuing years he has returned each season, watching her with those haunting eyes as if longing for something to happen. When a teen is killed by wolves, a hunting party decides to retaliate. Grace races through the woods and discovers a wounded boy shivering on her back porch. One look at his yellow eyes and she knows that this is her wolf in human form. Fate has finally brought Sam and Grace together, and as their love grows and intensifies, so does the reality of what awaits them. It is only a matter of time before the winter cold changes him back into a wolf, and this time he might stay that way forever. Told from alternating points of view, the narrative takes a classic Romeo & Juliet plot and transforms it into a paranormal romance that is beautiful and moving. Readers will easily identify with the strong, dynamic characters. The mythology surrounding the wolf pack is clever and so well written that it seems perfectly normal for the creatures to exist in today's world. A must-have that will give Bella and Edward a run for their money.—Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY
Grace and Sam share a kinship so close they could be lovers or siblings. But they also share a problem. When temperature slips towards freezing, Sam reverts to his wolf identity and must retreat into the freezing woods to protect his pack. He worries that winter by winter his human side will fade away and he will be left howling alone at the lonely moon. A stirring supernatural teen romance; now in trade paperback and NOOK Book.
Few people in Mercy Falls adore the wolves the way Grace does; in fact, most want them dead after the attack on a local teenage boy. But Grace feels a connection with the wolves, especially the one with the yellow eyes. After all, he is the one who saved her years ago when she was attacked. Sam may not remember everything when he shifts, but he remembers Grace. He has silently watched her from the woods since she was a young girl, feeling a connection to her but never knowing why. When the two finally meet, both of their worlds fall into place as Grace and Sam find something in each other that they have never felt before. But winter is fast approaching and Grace risks losing Sam forever to the pack. Every shiver is a reminder that everything she has always wanted could be gone in an instant. Reviewer: Mollie Johnson
