shiver5-glasses

Scholastic – August 1, 2009

Grace, as a young child, was pulled off of her swing set and dragged into the woods behind her home by wolves. As the pack nips and tugs on her clothing and skin she maintains eye contact with one wolf that keeps his distance. The wolf’s yellow eyes draw her in and give her something to focus on besides the feeling of terror lurking just beneath the surface ready to bubble up and escape in the form of a scream.

All at once and without knowing how, warmth replaced the cold as she is saved and the only thing she sees are the wolf’s yellow eyes.

As the years have passed, Grace has become obsessed with the wolves. She spends hours upon hours staring into the woods – hoping for a glimpse of the wolves – especially the wolf with the captivating yellow eyes. Grace wonders why the wolves never appear during the summer months. Winter is her favorite time of year since she can see the wolves and when her yellow eyed wolf creeps to the edge of the woods, Grace feels pulled toward him. She wants to reach out and touch his fur and smell his musky scent, but every time she makes a move forward, the wolf dissolves into the woods.

When reports of wolf attacks spread around town, panic sets in. Townspeople take matters in their own hands and go into the woods with guns in order to take care of the problem themselves. When Grace finds out she is beside herself with worry. What if her yellow-eyed wolf is killed? Without even thinking, Grace runs into the woods in order to create a diversion and stop the men from killing any of the wolves. As Grace makes her way home she finds a naked and injured man at her back door. A man with yellow eyes. A man she instinctively knows is HER wolf. Without a second thought, Grace rushes to help and learns that his name is Sam and that Sam has obsessed about her for as long as she has obsessed about him.

Now, as fall turns to winter, Sam and Grace must find a way for him to stay human or leave her forever – a thought neither of them can accept.

In SHIVER, Maggie Stiefvater creates a fantasy world that is completely believable. The characters, Sam and Grace, are extremely likable, however, it seems that we get to see a little more of Sam’s life than Grace’s. Most likely this is because of the fact that Grace is a normal girl who mostly stays home and goes to school whereas Sam is living two lives – in the winter he is completely different than he is in the warm months. Sam’s back story is heart-wrenching and you’ll continue to hold out hope that he gets a happy ending.

SHIVER will definitely be one of the books you’ll put on your To-Read-Again pile. In the Fall of 2010 the sequel will be released. It is called LINGER and will continue the story of the wolves of Mercy Falls. Be sure to visit Maggie’s website and/or blog to keep up with the latest information about her books.

SHIVER will make you quiver with delight.

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Click here to read my Q & A with Maggie.

Now for the fun part. Do you want to win an ARC of SHIVER? If so, here is how:

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