Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls/Shiver Series #1)

by Maggie Stiefvater

Overview

From a dazzlingly talented young writer, a haunting and original supernatural romance in the vein of TWILIGHT.

FORMAT: 9 CDs, Unabridged NARRATORS: Jenna Lamia & David Ledoux

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545165068
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/01/2009
Series:	Wolves of Mercy Falls Series , #1
Pages:	9
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Maggie Stiefvater is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the novels Shiver, Linger, Forever, and The Scorpio Races. She is also the author of Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception and Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie. She lives in Virginia with her husband and their two children. You can visit her online at www.maggiestiefvater.com.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 9 Up—For years, Grace has been fascinated watching the wolves that inhabit the woods behind her house in the winter. She is particularly drawn to one wolf, and his startling yellow eyes seem to watch her in return. Grace already suspected that the wolves are more than what they seem when a boy named Sam, with the same yellow eyes, appears on her back porch. Confirming her theory, Sam shares his secret with Grace: he is a werewolf. Building on a connection forged over the years, the two fall in love, only to be faced with the prospect of being separated forever as Sam suspects his next change into wolf form will be permanent. The story unfolds alternately from Grace's and Sam's points of view. Narrators Jenna Lamia and David Ledoux deliver solid performances of Maggie Stiefvater's novel (Scholastic, 2009). Lamia's youthful and earnest voice lends authenticity to her portrayal of the strong and independent Grace, while Sam's humor and vulnerability is highlighted by Ledoux. The narrators give additional depth to the well-drawn characters. Twilight fans are sure to gravitate towards this supernatural love story, but the novel's inevitable comparison to that saga should not keep others from the experience.—Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL

School Library Journal

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.)

Publishers Weekly

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

VOYA - Bonnie Kunzel

"A must-have that will give Bella and Edward a run for their money." -- School Library Journal

From the Publisher

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

Mollie Johnson

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