The Wolves Are Watching
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A fresh, compelling, and eerie exploration of small-town living, stolen children, and wolves that watch in the woods.
The night little Madison disappears from her crib, Luce sees a pair of eyes--two points of gold deep in the forest behind her house--and feels certain they belong to a wolf. Her town, Picnic, Illinois, is the kind of place where everyone knows one another and no one locks their doors. It’s not the kind of place where a toddler goes missing without a trace, where wolves lurk in the shadows.
In town, people are quick to blame Madison’s mom. But when Luce’s English teacher shares an original script about the disappearance of another little girl in Picnic back in 1870, Luce begins to notice similarities that she can’t ignore. Certain that something deeper is going on, Luce tracks the wolf she saw into the woods and uncovers the truth about her town: magical animal-women, who have remained hidden in shadows for centuries, have taken her cousin for their own purposes--and they have no intention of bringing her back.
A chilling mystery that weaves elements of magical realism, drama, and folklore into a story of one teen’s bravery as she confronts her town’s past and tries to save the future.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fifteen-year-old Luce Green uncovers terrifying secrets about her small Illinois hometown in this eerie, Slavic-folklore-inspired supernatural mystery from Lund (The Sky Above Us). Luce considers herself a typical teen, contending with quotidian adolescent growing pains and friendship woes, until her two-year-old cousin, Madison, goes missing from her crib one night only to suddenly reappear in her room the following day. Luce immediately notices Madison's strange new behavior—she rarely speaks, stares off into the distance, and moves stiffly "like those animatronics they had at Chuck E. Cheese"—and believes it's connected to the glowing golden eyes she's seen peering out from the forest behind her house at night. Unbeknownst to Luce, Fanya, a wolflike young woman who lives in the forest, is preparing to welcome Madison into her pack. While the pacing is lackadaisical, alternating perspectives featuring Luce's astute narration and Fanya's peregrine point of view, written in Lund's titillating prose, keep readers engaged. Serving up dark, small-town history and ancient folkloric creatures, Lund capably blends past, present, and future in this ethereal tale. Characters read as white. Ages 12–up.
