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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
What an incredible book! The staff pick card at Waterstones said something like "I really dislike it when people describe children's books as being good enough for adults but..." And they're not wrong!
Wolf Hollow is a very mature book for young readers. The setting is perfectly realised. Rural 1940's Pennsylvania came alive to me. I especially liked the scenes at school. Very nicely done.
The characters are fully formed and act in ways you'd expect or like them to. The dynamic between Annabelle, our main character, and the "village oddball", Toby, was great to see. Her relationship with her family felt believable, too. Annabelle is a likeable and relatable main character; a wonderful role model who isn't a Miss Goody Two Shoes.
Lauren Wolk isn't afraid of going into dark places just because this is a children's book, which is very refreshing to see. You won't find any sugar coating here!
I'm very glad I took notice of that staff pick at the shop and brought this book home. It was amazing and I highly recommend it. Some might even say it's good enough for adults... ;-)
Wolf Hollow is a very mature book for young readers. The setting is perfectly realised. Rural 1940's Pennsylvania came alive to me. I especially liked the scenes at school. Very nicely done.
The characters are fully formed and act in ways you'd expect or like them to. The dynamic between Annabelle, our main character, and the "village oddball", Toby, was great to see. Her relationship with her family felt believable, too. Annabelle is a likeable and relatable main character; a wonderful role model who isn't a Miss Goody Two Shoes.
Lauren Wolk isn't afraid of going into dark places just because this is a children's book, which is very refreshing to see. You won't find any sugar coating here!
I'm very glad I took notice of that staff pick at the shop and brought this book home. It was amazing and I highly recommend it. Some might even say it's good enough for adults... ;-)
I almost want to start a whole new shelf just for this "middle-grade-except-not-really".
Yes, it is yet another much hyped and lauded MG book of 2016 I don't like. It will be easy for many to dismiss me as simply having a contrary year, but really why the love for this book in the kidlit world? It is extremely well written. It is not a book for children though. I'm not saying this in a way that means "teacher book" like I would call [b:Pax|22098550|Pax (Pax #1)|Sara Pennypacker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434493048l/22098550._SX50_.jpg|41443759] or that it's like a Pixar movie in book form like I would call [b:Hokey Pokey|13642591|Hokey Pokey|Jerry Spinelli|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348791506l/13642591._SX50_.jpg|19257831]. It is an adult literary fiction novel never mind the age of the protagonist. You know how the Flavia de Luce books by [a:Alan Bradley|1074866|Alan Bradley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1256021843p2/1074866.jpg] could technically be sold as MG because of Flavia's age? Yeah. I think any one who has read those books is in agreement their placement in adult mystery fiction is right. Just because this book is about bullying and a young protagonist doesn't make it MG. It's non-linear in many places, it meanders in stream of consciousness thought, it wallows in the misery of human existence, and is hopeless hopeless hopeless. It is everything I hate about adult lit fic. It exemplifies all the reasons why I spend my time reading (actual) children's fiction and only read genre fiction when I read adult. I won't be recommending this to anyone, but if depressing adult fiction is your jam, you may want to try it.
Yes, it is yet another much hyped and lauded MG book of 2016 I don't like. It will be easy for many to dismiss me as simply having a contrary year, but really why the love for this book in the kidlit world? It is extremely well written. It is not a book for children though. I'm not saying this in a way that means "teacher book" like I would call [b:Pax|22098550|Pax (Pax #1)|Sara Pennypacker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434493048l/22098550._SX50_.jpg|41443759] or that it's like a Pixar movie in book form like I would call [b:Hokey Pokey|13642591|Hokey Pokey|Jerry Spinelli|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348791506l/13642591._SX50_.jpg|19257831]. It is an adult literary fiction novel never mind the age of the protagonist. You know how the Flavia de Luce books by [a:Alan Bradley|1074866|Alan Bradley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1256021843p2/1074866.jpg] could technically be sold as MG because of Flavia's age? Yeah. I think any one who has read those books is in agreement their placement in adult mystery fiction is right. Just because this book is about bullying and a young protagonist doesn't make it MG. It's non-linear in many places, it meanders in stream of consciousness thought, it wallows in the misery of human existence, and is hopeless hopeless hopeless. It is everything I hate about adult lit fic. It exemplifies all the reasons why I spend my time reading (actual) children's fiction and only read genre fiction when I read adult. I won't be recommending this to anyone, but if depressing adult fiction is your jam, you may want to try it.
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 Stars. Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2017.
This one was alright. I'm struggling to have strong feelings about it.. it might just be a little too "young" for me although it does deal with some quite scary bullying and mob mentality. Annabelle is a quite sweet and well meaning twelve year old girl growing up in a rural American town during the second world war. Toby is the strange man who lives in the woods. He's a veteran of the first world war and wanders the woods all day with three guns strapped to his back. Her family have always been kind to him and they have sweet friendship, despite the fact he barely speaks. Betty, a clearly troubled girl, arrives in the town and begins to bully and threaten Annabelle. When Betty goes missing her lies seem to point to Toby being behind her disappearance, but Annabelle knows that can't be true.
There isn't much wrong with this book and it was a pleasure to read, it just didn't really grip me. I think perhaps the main issue I have is that Betty is never really that well realised. She's a little bit two dimensional which made it difficult to care about her fate. This is actually quite a complex book and the motivations of a lot of the characters might be a little challenging for younger readers, but at the same time I applaud this book for not talking down or simplifying the story too much... or having a sickly "happy ever after" cop out ending.
It's a nice read.. but I'm not super excited by it.
This one was alright. I'm struggling to have strong feelings about it.. it might just be a little too "young" for me although it does deal with some quite scary bullying and mob mentality. Annabelle is a quite sweet and well meaning twelve year old girl growing up in a rural American town during the second world war. Toby is the strange man who lives in the woods. He's a veteran of the first world war and wanders the woods all day with three guns strapped to his back. Her family have always been kind to him and they have sweet friendship, despite the fact he barely speaks. Betty, a clearly troubled girl, arrives in the town and begins to bully and threaten Annabelle. When Betty goes missing her lies seem to point to Toby being behind her disappearance, but Annabelle knows that can't be true.
There isn't much wrong with this book and it was a pleasure to read, it just didn't really grip me. I think perhaps the main issue I have is that Betty is never really that well realised. She's a little bit two dimensional which made it difficult to care about her fate. This is actually quite a complex book and the motivations of a lot of the characters might be a little challenging for younger readers, but at the same time I applaud this book for not talking down or simplifying the story too much... or having a sickly "happy ever after" cop out ending.
It's a nice read.. but I'm not super excited by it.
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Incredible. Heartbreaking. There are so many layers to this story, it's going to need a reread.
This was such a beautifully written book—but it’s a tough one for middle grade. I really enjoyed it as an adult but would caution parents and teachers to be choosy about which kids to hand this one too. Definitely some hard themes—lots for great discussion though!
Meh. It's a bit dark and there are some interesting parts but I wouldn't read it again.