No. This book doesn't have any werewolves. Sorry. If you didn't have that same thought when you read the title well... yeah. It's just me then. KJ Carson lives near Yellowstone. Her father is a guide there. He is very serious and always brooding. Her mother dies in a car crash when she was little. She was in the car but nothing happened to her. She's the clumsy type of person that is like the girl you don't really know. Well in this really small town they do know a lot about you.

Then comes in Virgil the really good looking guy from Minesooda. His mom is a researcher of Wolves which have been getting some attention now because they are killing off cattle. There are a lot of angry ranchers. She starts something when she and Virgil start to write a little page on their high school newspaper about the Cinderella wolf who's sister has beaten her up, droven away the rest of her family, and might possibly have killed her babies. This of course angers the townsfolk but it just get progressively worse in a series of events. She's trying to work with the wolves but she just feels like she is making it worse. What is a girl to do?

This is a pretty long book. Almost 400 pages but it wasn't bad reading it. The characters were really interesting and the story too. There was a little mystery going on in there too. The father... why do fathers have to be such a pain? I know he wants to make her strong but he just really got under my skin sometimes. He needs to realx a little bit but I do understand. Sort of. He wanted her to leave everything alone which wasn't right. I had a hard time picturing Virgil. I never have imagined a boy with :shaggy: hair. He was nice but I don't know he was not as sweet or maybe it's cute? as he was in the beginning. But Holy Smack! I did really like this book. It was well worth the read.

http://shesgotbooksonhermind.blogspot.com/
( )

A novel for teens, told in the first person: Clumsy KJ starts her junior year of high school in a small Montana town near Yellowstone with a growing interest in wolves and a growing interest in the new kid at school, who is spending one year in town with his mother, who studies wolves. The first third of the book is a little slow, as we meet the characters, and hear a little more "he loves me, he loves me not" than I cared for. But the meat of the story gets rolling in the last two thirds, and it's a good story.
Wolves have been reintroduced to the wild in Montana. This is great news for conservationists and wolf aficionados, but bad news for local ranchers, who always lose some of their livestock to the wolves. The conflict between ranchers and wolf fans was already brewing, but KJ and her almost-boyfriend Virgil trouble the waters significantly. Chandler doesn't fully take sides on the ethical issue of the wolves. She presents both sides of the argument and leaves the reader to decide what he or she thinks. But since her heroine is clearly on the wolf's side, we can guess which way she would like us to lean.
Good story, well told. The book is clearly written for a female audience, however, this male reader quite enjoyed it once I got through the angst filled first third of the book. KJ and Virgil are both likable, believable protagonists. ( )

K.J. Carson is drifting through life. Her mom was killed in a car crash when she was three and her father, a lawyer, switched careers, possibly in response to his loss. He's a fishing and hunting guide in West End, Montana, a town bordering Yellowstone National Park and runs a sporting goods store to help make ends meet during the slow times. He expects K.J. To help out, both in the store and as a grunt on wildlife viewing and fishing trips. He's on her case most of the time and he's unable to show her much affection or emotional support
There are 948 people in town, everyone knows everyone else and most of their business. K.J. has friends, but doesn't feel like she really fits in. When a new boy named Virgil appears on the opening day of school in the fall, she notices a couple of things about him. He has an accent she can't place and he's really good looking. When the two of them are paired on the school newspaper staff, they begin to hit it off. Virgil and his mother have come from Minnesota to study the wolf packs that have grown as a result of reintroduction of the species in the park. Virgil takes amazing photos, K.J. writes a column to accompany them. They think their effort is pretty innocuous until all hell breaks loose when ranchers and hunters begin blaming the wolves for the drop in the elk population and livestock lost on nearby ranches.
All K.J. and Virgil want is to complete their assignments, get to know each other and do some wolf watching with his mother, but the issue of whether the wolves are causing major problems takes on a life of its own and before the teens know it, they're at the center of a raging controversy that threatens to tear the town apart.
By the time the story concludes, there have been fires set, a person shot and a couple young people almost drown. Virgil and K.J. have to get very creative, not to mention brave in order to survive and keep a relationship alive that both of them realize is pretty special. This book was given to me by a friend whose daughter bought it and passed it on to her. I started reading it and couldn't stop. It's a great book about growing up when the people who should be guiding you have abdicated their responsibility. It also is a neat love story intertwined with an important environmental issue. The author does a dandy job of letting characters on both sides of the issue bring their opinions to life without getting preachy or showing bias. Teens who like stories with real life issues, drama and a neat teen romance will certainly like this book. ( )

In Kristen Chandler's debut novel, Wolves, Boys and Other Things that Might Kill Me, a confused teenaged girl named KJ who has lived just outside Yellowstone National Park all her life becomes inspired to bring awareness to the livelihood of the wolves the government has reintroduced inside the park. Based on this plot line alone, I thoroughly loved the book. But my perspective is skewed because I read Chandler's second novel, Girls Don't Fly, before reading this one, and I keep comparing the two.

There are some things the author missed in Wolves that she did better in her second novel. The character of KJ is dynamic - she definitely changes through the story. But there's not enough background information provided for her. All her classmates seem to think she's so stupid, but why are they so cruel to her? There has to be more story there.

I also didn't particularly care for KJ's relationship with Virgil. Their romance is confusing and subdued and you never know what their status is. In a way, maybe that is more realistic but it just wasn't my cup of tea. And as far as the wolves and the town's relationship toward them, I feel like there was a great deal more suspense that could have been added to this story that Chandler missed an opportunity with.

With that being said, I still feel that this is an exemplary YA book. If more authors chose to write about real issues facing our country's younger generation from a political and environmental standpoint like Chandler, maybe more people would care. The vivid descriptions she provides of our nation's first national park and the beautiful creatures who call it home are very true to life and inspiring. I hope Chandler continues to write more books like this in the future. ( )

The concept of wolves vs. people is really interesting, and I just loved reading about the wolves in general. KJ was also a really fun character to follow. A very good read overall! ( )