Wolves, Boys & Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler
pages: 371
released: May 2010
publisher: Viking
cover love: ♥♥♥
KJ 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. (from goodreads)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 2/15/2013 ON BOOKSLIKESTARS.NET
Review:
What initially caught my attention about this book was its title and the fact that its story was centered around a young girl and the wolves in her Montana town. Yes, teens and wolves, nothing uncommon in today’s young adult market. But this book isn’t about wolves that shift into humans or get up on their hind legs and become some beastly, nightmarish creature either. No, this book is about real live wolves from Yellowstone Park.
It was interesting to read about the wolves and I learned a few things about their behavior. It surprised me that wolves, usually known for traveling in packs and seeming for the most part to get along and act like a family, can be some very competitive bullies.
Wolves, Boys & Other Things… wasn’t what you’d call spectacular yet it wasn’t boring either. I liked KJ alright. She’s a blossomed tom boy living with her widowed dad and helps out by working at his fishing and guide tour shop. They have that natural father and daughter relationship, where the father can’t be bothered with raising a female except along the lines of food, clothing and storage. But also can’t in no way, shape or form deal with the fact that their daughter attracts boys. KJ’s dad needs his business to thrive to get through the off seasons when tourists are scarce but KJ’s new found interest in the wolves for the school newspaper doesn’t help matters when living in a town full of cattle ranchers and farms. Ranchers want the wolves gone from Yellowstone and start a petition to get the right to “remove” them. KJ, Virgil and his wolf-loving mom support the claim that wolves keep the elk population down, hence, reversing the downfall of the ecosystem, yada yada yada…In short, lines are drawn, sides are picked. Guns are involved. Things get ugly.
All in all, Wolves, Boys & Other Things… was a good read and it had a few winning moments. My only complaint is about the typos. OMFG. I found at least 20. Hmmmm, does anybody proofread over at Viking?
Favorite Lines
“There’s this new guy who is really great who I’ve thoroughly offended.”
“Teenage boys don’t listen enough to be offended.”
“I’m a pathetic random pattern. I’m a nonsequential but recurring loser. I’m fluid stupidity.”
“I wish I knew how to change my patterns–all of them. But it’s like the blood in my finger. I screw up and there it is, just the stuff I’m made of, making a mess again.”
“I’m not really a stalker, but my school is so small it’s hard not to notice a person’s schedule if you have a compound crush and a guilt complex about them.”
“How long were you standing out there?”
“I don’t know. Forty-three minutes.”
“You must be freezing. And a stalker.”
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