Wolf Hollow

Morning all!  Happy feast of St. John Bosco, one of the patrons of Catholic Youth Expeditions!  Also, don't forget that tomorrow is The First of Februaaaaaaary.  St. Brigid, Pray for us!  Have some beer!  We are also about 2 weeks from Lent.  What are you doing to do for Lent?  People typically ask, "What are you going to give up for Lent?", bu I'm usually in the habit of adding something- like some serious spiritual reading on top of some abstention.  Anywho, this week's review is about an interesting little morsel that recently caught my eye.

Wolf Hollow
Lauren Wolk
290 Pages, Reading Time: 5ish hours

Inside cover reads:
Growing up in the shadows cast by two world wars, Annabelle has lived a mostly quiet, steady life in her small Pennsylvania town. Until the day new student Betty Glengarry walks into her class. Betty quickly reveals herself to be cruel and manipulative, and while her bullying seems isolated at first, things quickly escalate, and reclusive World War I veteran Toby becomes a target of her attacks. While others have always seen Toby’s strangeness, Annabelle knows only kindness. She will soon need to find the courage to stand as a lone voice of justice as tensions mount.





Initial Reaction:  I'm kind of speechless.  It was an intense page turner that was akin to my Little House Addiction.  I didn't want to put it down.  I itched to finish it.  Luckily, I had a 3-hour car ride to get a jump start on it.  This novel is all about knowing the truth, telling the truth, and uncovering the truth, even though the first sentence of the novel is "The year I turned twelve, I learned how to lie" (1).  While I was somewhat disappointed in the ending (the whole truth didn't come to light), I thought the book was pretty fantastic overall.  Wolk portrays a realistic, cruel, and terrifying 14-year-old bully.  Although, I'm not quite sure that I would characterize Betty as just a bully who is "incorrigible."  She is a villain; the kind of villain we love to hate.  She definitely has a mental disorder; it is clear that she takes pleasure in making others suffer.  It is clear that her parents have separated in some way, and she's angry about it.  I know first-hand the type of pain that a divorce can bring to a young child, but that's no excuse for her kind of behavior.  Instead of dealing with Betty, her parents send her off to live with her milquetoast grandparents.  She suffers her own demise because of her lies and lawbreaking, but the truth never really comes out all the way, and that was a disappointment.  Also, it's hard for the reader not to think, "serves her right, she was meaner than a damn snake."  And I don't really like that.

Promote Virtue?  Yes.  I'd say patience, tolerance, forgiveness, kindness.

Transcendentals? Yes.  All three.  It is very apparent in the book that Annabelle and her family love the truth.  Toby is definitely a lover of beauty.  Annabelle also strives to be good, and her character provides a stark juxtaposition to that of Betty's.

Overcome human condition?  Yes and no.  While the truth eventually comes to light because Annabelle finally confesses to her family, there is no redemption for Betty.  She remains a liar to the end of her life.  It really makes me wonder why she's so afraid.  At the heart of every lie is some type of fear.  Fear of the truth.  The Truth is not something to fear.  Consequences of telling the truth can be scary, but it's the Truth.

Attitude toward Catholicism? N/A

Paganry?  None

Swearing?  Nope

Violence?  Yes, the sneaky, manipulative, girl kind that all girls know, but also some pretty horrendous physical abuse.  Betty beats Annabelle with a stick.  She throws a rock at another girl who eventually loses her eye.  She sharpens a trip wire so it has a razor's edge and strings it taught between two trees, meaning to catch Annabelle's younger brother by the neck.  Betty also takes a pheasant and wrings its neck slowly to intentionally cause it pain.

Appropriate age?  I would say 12+.  There's nothing inappropriate in it.

Writing Style:  Gripping.  Wolk starts with a great hook, and you are entranced for the remainder of the novel.  It also reads quite fast.  The writing is not dumbed down for younger readers, but it isn't full of huge vocabulary words, either.

Notable Quoteables:
"I learned about a thing called onomatopoeia, which I could not yet spell but practiced under my breath throughout the afternoon" (61).

"I didn't see this as separate strands.  It was, to my thinking, a rope, any part of which was twined with every other part" (127).

"For days I had popped from one problem to another like a pumpkin seed on a griddle" (226).

"Somewhere, excitement waited for me like an uncut cake" (226).  FABULOUS writing!

Great words:  incorrigible, furtive, famished

Final Summation:
Wolk's novel is a fantastic and gripping semi-mystery, as well as a sincere and relentless search for the truth.  While I was a little disappointed with the ending, it didn't cast a shadow on the rest of the novel.  I really hoped for redemption for Betty, but honestly wasn't surprised when there was none to be had.  I think that the author desired to draw pity from the reader, not angry revenge.  I think she accomplished that well.  Wolk's writing also made me want to search out her other works to read them.  Therefore, Wolf Hollow is