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The Children and the Wolves

3.31 of 5 stars 3.31 · rating details · 206 ratings · 78 reviews

Printz Honor-winning author Adam Rapp spins a raw, gripping, and ultimately redemptive story about three disaffected teens and a kidnapped child.

Three teenagers - a sharp, well-to-do girl named Bounce and two struggling boys named Wiggins and Orange - are holding a four-yearold girl hostage in Orange's basement. The little girl answers to "the Frog" and seems content to pl...more

Hardcover, 160 pages

Published February 28th 2012 by Candlewick Press

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Apr 16, 2012 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fiction, read-in-2012

3.5.

This is a hell of a risky book!

Wiggins, Orange, and Bounce have taken a child they've named Frog captive, and they're keeping her locked up in Orange's basement. She's been missing for weeks around town, and Bounce has convinced the two boys they can make money from her captivity by deceiving people in town that they're collecting change to fund search and rescue efforts. Frog spends all day in Orange's basement playing a video game about wolves who chase dirty children up trees; she's gett...more 3.5.

This is a hell of a risky book!

Wiggins, Orange, and Bounce have taken a child they've named Frog captive, and they're keeping her locked up in Orange's basement. She's been missing for weeks around town, and Bounce has convinced the two boys they can make money from her captivity by deceiving people in town that they're collecting change to fund search and rescue efforts. Frog spends all day in Orange's basement playing a video game about wolves who chase dirty children up trees; she's getting really good at it.

Rapp's story, which is really short, is packed. It's a book about power and control on so many levels. Bounce has a handle on Wiggins and Orange, convincing them to partake in this kidnapping scheme, which is really her way of seeking revenge on a poet who came to her English class and challenged her in a way she'd never been challenged before. Then there's an even thicker layer on top of this, which is that of social class. Bounce is from wealth, from having any and everything she wants whenever she wants it (see: her little revenge plan) while Orange and Wiggins come from the wrong side of the tracks. They are poor, poor, poor, and they are struggling against not only that, but they're struggling against terrible family issues, loss, grief, illiteracy, abuse, and more.

The story's told through all four of the character voices, but it's Wiggins who readers learn the most about. He bookends the story, and he's where Rapp takes immense risks that will turn many readers off, if not outright repulse them. (view spoiler) Rapp's book's pretty bleak, and the ending doesn't necessarily answer any questions, which I appreciated.

As soon as I finished this one, I went back and reread the first chapter. I think this is a book that requires more than one reading to fully comprehend since it is so dense. It reminded me a lot of how Blythe Woolston writes her characters and her stories: they seem pretty straightforward but they are anything but.

I'm shocked this hasn't been getting more attention, and part of me wonders if that's because it is so risky and unsettling.

Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2012/04/c... (less)

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Apr 27, 2012 Kathleen Houlihan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012_read, mockprintz2012

I agree with Kelly ...3.5

Even more disturbing than Rapp's 33 Snowfish, The Children and the Wolves gives readers a glimpse inside a terrifyingly dark world where the whims of a budding sociopath are carried out with no intervention, save the too little, too late redemption of one of her henchmen.

Bounce is an incredibly dark anti-heroine, and while 33 Snowfish allowed the dark characters to retain some fragility (and, thus, sympathy) Rapp has stripped all that away leaving pure, cold, evil. The...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Alicia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: abuse, boy, dysfunctional, multiple-voices, odd

Along the lines of Nothing, this book, though short, is multi-layered, unique and certainly not for everyone. But, it is a train-wreck that can't help but be looked at as the four narrators: three youths and their three-year-old captive Frog explain how they live their lives and through what lens they view it.

Bounce is a privileged genius whose parents flit off and shirk their parenting responsibilities in search of high adventure everywhere but home. She is not the ringleader to Wiggins and Or...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: abusive-relationships, animals, bullies, families, gifted, ncbla2013, school

Using four different voices (Bounce, Wiggins, Orange, and Frog), this title describes life on the fringes of society, and one of the elements that makes it particularly disturbing is the fact that Bounce, the group's manipulative ringleader doesn't have to be on the fringe. She has parents (although they seem to be absent, self-absorbed or clueless most of the time), wealth, and intelligence, but she uses all her gifts to hurt others or to craft elaborate revenge-centered plots. Even though she...more Using four different voices (Bounce, Wiggins, Orange, and Frog), this title describes life on the fringes of society, and one of the elements that makes it particularly disturbing is the fact that Bounce, the group's manipulative ringleader doesn't have to be on the fringe. She has parents (although they seem to be absent, self-absorbed or clueless most of the time), wealth, and intelligence, but she uses all her gifts to hurt others or to craft elaborate revenge-centered plots. Even though she picked out Orange and Wiggins to do her bidding when she met them in a school detention, she has no respect for them whatsoever since they are simply the avenues through which she plans to get what she wants. Neither of the teen boys seems to realize that she is using them--or if they do, they don't seem to care. Bounce has concocted a plot to kidnap a child--Frog--and keep her chained in Orange's basement while they print out flyers and collect money to help find the missing child. She plans to set up a poet who visited her school because of a remark he made. Through each character's voice, readers learn about this plot and other acts of mayhem and will quickly note that Wiggins seems to be the character with the most empathy. He pays attention to Frog and to Orange's father even while despising his own mother and fearing the refrigerator in the kitchen, for unspecified reasons. It's clear from the beginning that if anyone is going to help Frog, it will be Wiggins. But at what price? As I closed the book, as is the case with every title Rapp has written and I've read, I felt an immense sadness for his characters while I fumbled to understand each one's behavior and motivation as well as predict their future paths. The scary thing is that there are teens and adults just like Bounce and just like Orange and Wiggins. Reading their stories reminds readers not to trust or not to trust too easily, and always leaves someone like me wondering about what led to this sort of thinking and behavior. In Bounce's case, even her teachers don't seem to have much awareness of what she is really like. How long will she able to walk on both sides of the street? Or are these events simply a last hurrah before she heads off to prep school? Is there any possibility for redemption for her? Questions, questions, questions, all with no easy answers, fill my mind, haunt my heart, and disturb my complacent existence. (less)

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Oct 13, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012reads, 2012-pub, realistic, youngadult

I don't know what to think of this one. I was definitely pleased it was such a quick read since it is so thoroughly unpleasant. There are readers who would love it, but I am not one of them - for one thing I like a little humor for leavening in my books and there really wasn't any here. Rapp is dealing with some pretty heavy themes - this is basically an indictment of American consumerist society for one. How does violence in our entertainment influence our children? (Bounce's love of Ultimate F...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Adrienne Butler rated it 3 of 5 stars

Unrelenting. Brutal. Sociopathic. Sad. Non-empathic. Told in 4 voices this story is of two boys, Wiggins & Orange, who under the steely direction of the highly self-opinionated Bounce, the lone female, kidnap 3 year-old Frog and plan other crimes.

At 152 pages, Rapp's writing is spare but packs a wallop of a punch. Characters, while not entirely likable or even relatable are starkly drawn with all their flaws bared wide open. You see everything and not one thing is the cause or by-product of...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Karin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, bullies, edgy, youngadult

Intense, edgy, disturbing - just a few words that describe THE CHILDREN AND THE WOLVES by Adam Rapp. The reader is slapped in the face with the gritty story on the first page.

Bounce, an extremely intelligent and wealthy girl meets Wiggins and Orange in detention. Bounce immediately sees them for what they are - weaklings and declares herself boss. She is disrespectful to all adults and authority figures and left alone for weeks at a time to do what she wants.

The story is told in alternating poin...more Intense, edgy, disturbing - just a few words that describe THE CHILDREN AND THE WOLVES by Adam Rapp. The reader is slapped in the face with the gritty story on the first page.

Bounce, an extremely intelligent and wealthy girl meets Wiggins and Orange in detention. Bounce immediately sees them for what they are - weaklings and declares herself boss. She is disrespectful to all adults and authority figures and left alone for weeks at a time to do what she wants.

The story is told in alternating points of view allowing the reader to see inside the minds of each of the characters. All three of these eighth graders have problems. Orange lives at home with his disabled father. His mother left without explanation and he doesn't seem to care.

Wiggins lives alone with his mother, a nurse with a fixation on Craig Ferguson. His father was a Ranger in the war in Iraq. When he finally came home, he didn't stay. He distrusts several things - including refrigerators.

When a local poet visits Bounce's Honors English Class, he makes comments that angers her. She immediately develops a plan to deal with him and enlists the help of her two lackeys. The first stage of her plan involves kidnapping a little girl. Wiggins is the one in charge of keeping her fed and she stays in Orange's basement because no one will find her there since Orange's father can't walk.

Wiggins calls her Frog and is the only one to develop any type of relationship with her. The only thing Frog has to do all day is play a video game called "The Children and the Wolves." As Bounce's plan progresses, changes, and intensifies, Frog gets better and better at the game.

After a particularly violent incident, Wiggins begins to have second thoughts about the path he is traveling with Bounce and Orange. Is he strong enough to break away from the abusive friendship? Will he be able to save Frog?

THE CHILDREN AND THE WOLVES is engrossing. It is a very short 151 pages and really pulls the reader in. The fact that Bounce, Orange, and Wiggins are 13-years-old is frightening. Bounce especially is scary and most likely a sociopath. She definitely has a lack of conscience and manipulates others. Orange just wants her attention and approval and poor Wiggins, I think, just wants somewhere to belong. This one will really stick with you.(less)

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Feb 11, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: abusive-relationships, drug-abuse, sex, survival, young-adult-literature

"We feed the Frog Chex cereal and Flintstones chewable vitamins with extra C. She's got a couch and a toilet and a sink and a mini refrigerator and two pillows and a coloring book and crayons and when her underwears get dirty I wash them in the washer-dryer unit. We got a thing of Tide and a thing of Snuggle fabric softener. The washer-dryer unit vibrates a lot and if you press up against it you can get your nut off. I only do that when the Frog is asleep. You can't get your nut off in front of...more "We feed the Frog Chex cereal and Flintstones chewable vitamins with extra C. She's got a couch and a toilet and a sink and a mini refrigerator and two pillows and a coloring book and crayons and when her underwears get dirty I wash them in the washer-dryer unit. We got a thing of Tide and a thing of Snuggle fabric softener. The washer-dryer unit vibrates a lot and if you press up against it you can get your nut off. I only do that when the Frog is asleep. You can't get your nut off in front of a little kid. That's how your soul gets a hole in it. That's what I think even though Bounce says we don't got souls.

She'll say, There ain't shit inside us but blood and water. Bones and blood and water. She says a soul is something made up by priests and greeting card companies.

She reads a lot and I trust her about most things, but not about souls. I imagine a soul is a little perfect crystal egg floating in your chest. Somewhere deeper than where they put your heart. Somewhere so deep inside that the doctors can't find it with all their machines and microcameras."

Wiggins, Orange and Bounce are three adolescents who, each in their own way, have been discarded by family and society. Together, they form a rough alliance, and kidnap a young girl from her ballet practice. They keep her in the basement of Orange's house, where she spends her days playing the same Playstation game, a game that eerily echoes her relationship to her captors. Stakes eventually get higher, and the crew begins to take larger risks. Eventually, the guilt gets to Wiggins, and he starts to look for a way out of the crew, and a way to get the Frog out of the basement. But for both of them, it might be too late.

After reading Jack Gantos's DEAD END IN NORVELT, this was about as far away from Newbery-sweet as I could get. I'm always impressed by Adam Rapp's writing - he presents teens in desperate situations, in unflinching prose. His characters live on the fringes of society, the places most of us hope to avoid, and Rapp makes no excuses for their behavior. The multiple perspectives used in the novel help present a fuller view of what's happening with Bounce's crew and the Frog, but while Wiggins certainly deserved the most "space," I wanted to hear more from Bounce. Not because I thought she could be redeemed at all, but more to see what made her tick. But this novel delivered exactly what I want when I read Rapp's work - a hard punch to the gut. His writing is definitely not for everyone, but his audience appreciates the brutal beauty in his writing.

(less)

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Feb 05, 2012 Paul Hankins rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: february-2012, young-adult-edgy, young-adult-fiction, young-adult-memorable-writing, young-adult-reader-advisor-book

Adam Rapp won a Prinz Honor for PUNKZILLA, a wonderful but edgy Hero's Journey story about a young man strung out but trying to get to his terminally ill brother before he dies.

But I first discovered Rapp with his title, 33 SNOWFISH, a book that begins with the line, "On top of everything else, Booby's got the clap." Edgy. . .edgy. . .edgy. . .in 33 SNOWFISH, the characters are holding one of their baby brothers for ransom as they drive around in a van.

In THE CHILDREN AND THE WOLVES, multiple na...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is a quick read, but don't let that fool you. It will push you to think in new ways whether you want to or not.

The book isn't written in a style that I like the most. It is written in a gritty, multi-character point of view. The characters are all young teens, so their view of the world is overly simplistic, but the implications of their acts and thoughts are not.

One point that made it hard for me to enjoy the novel is that none of the characters is really likeable. While I don't min...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Monica rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: older teens and adults

Shelves: normal, arcs-giveaways

First I'd like to thank Candlewick Press for mailing me this ARC. This was the first ARC I've ever won from the Goodreads giveaway.

So basically, a girl named Bounce and her dimmer friends Wiggins and Orange kidnap a little girl named Frog. (These were all nicknames.) They go around neighborhoods and collect donations supposedly for the Frog's benefit--all part of a scam to get money. As the scam continues, tensions arise and loyalties are questioned.

Ok...wow, this book was something. It's defi...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Jared rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm a huge fan of Rapp, however, this book really took a nosedive in quality, mostly because it reads like a vastly inferior rehash of “33 Snowfish” (Rapp’s highmark, in my opinion).

Rapp can be a really powerful writer, but here he just seems like he’s on autopilot. Other reviewers have commented on the fact that the alternating first-person chapters between all the characters is a flop. The voices of Orange and Wiggins are indistinguishable and Frog’s voice, that of a 4 year-old girl, is just a...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Ringo The Cat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, ya, realistic-fiction

Review first published at: http://ringothecat.wordpress.com/2012...

Adam Rapp is a risk taker pur sang. The cat absolutely loved Punkzilla. One of its most striking features may have been the ease with which Rapp gives each character a distinctive voice. Even though Punkzilla also hosted a string of society’s most marginalized outcasts, the main plot premise (a dysfunctional teen finding his way in the world) wasn’t that controversial. It’s a whole different ballgame with The Children and the Wol...more Review first published at: http://ringothecat.wordpress.com/2012...

Adam Rapp is a risk taker pur sang. The cat absolutely loved Punkzilla. One of its most striking features may have been the ease with which Rapp gives each character a distinctive voice. Even though Punkzilla also hosted a string of society’s most marginalized outcasts, the main plot premise (a dysfunctional teen finding his way in the world) wasn’t that controversial. It’s a whole different ballgame with The Children and the Wolves. Rapp addresses things people hardly ever want to talk about: the inherent badness in certain individuals. It’s never just a nice story. It’s disturbing and unsettling.

In the case of The Children and the Wolves, this is shown in the character of Bounce – an 8th grader who is for all intents and purposes an evil genius. Because this book is so darn short (a mere 160 pages) it would be a shame to give away too much of the story, but suffice it to say that Bounce’s Uber-arrogance gets challenged, which makes her decide to take revenge on the challenger – a poet – and to recruit two 7th graders to do part of the dirty work. The dirty work in this case is to kidnap a 3-year-old toddler, who they call ‘The Frog’, keep her captured and feed her a video game (The children and the wolves) to keep her quiet, so she can get on with the revenge plan.

The strength of Rapp’s novel yet again lies in managing to give each character a distinctive voice. There’s Wiggins, who lives alone with this mother (a nurse and a drug addict) after his father – a ranger during the Iraq war – left them. His voice is raw and real, yet sensitive at the same time. There’s Orange who lives with his disabled father. There’s The Frog, who is kept in Orange’s basement and continues to play a video game at which she gets better and better as the story progresses – a plot device as well as a metaphor. Most of all there’s Bounce of course, whose parents work for a drug company giving her an endless supply of Oxycontin. Because her parents are mostly away ‘on business’, Bounce has learned to take care of herself, and most of all, she has learned how to see the weakness in other people and to use those weaknesses to her own advantage.

The controversy of The Children and the Wolves, of course lies in the fact that these kids are so young (13 and 14) and yet are committing crimes that you’d even be repulsed by if they were committed by an adult. It also raises the question of responsibility and cause and effect. In the case of the three kids, none of the parents are so-called “responsible parents”. There are drug addicts, absent parents, lost parents, etc. , which begs the question: would these kids be the way they are if their circumstances were any different? Or – in the cause of Bounce – are they just inherently bad? Obviously there is also the question of who the victims are in this tale of sociological desolation and how the roles of victim and perpetrator are often entangled. These are the type of sociological questions (nature vs. nurture) that Adam Rapp manages to tackle in these mere 160 pages.

The Children and the Wolves is not as fleshed out as Punkzilla, but it’s definitely an interesting and risky novel(la) that dares to ask difficult questions, doesn’t shy away from taboo and will leave you with an unsettling feeling. It talks about the evil that man can do, but somehow amidst all that bottled up rage and violence, there’s a flicker of hope when Wiggins does what he does.(less)

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Nov 27, 2012 Lisa rated it 2 of 5 stars

I guess maybe it is just me, but I thought this book was pretty terrible. It had a good story line and had great potential, then it just ended..... what happens next, does Wiggins, Orange, and Bounce get caught, does the poet get attacked? Does the caseworker recover at all? Will Wiggins' mom come home? What about Frog? Does she recover? Does she get back to her family? Does she have any ill effects from the drugs Orange fed her? There are just too many unanswered questions when it ends. I wonde...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Rapp is a master at writing about teens that live on the fringe of society. His characters have had rough lives, but he makes no excuses for how they turn out.

Bounce (real name Carla) is a brilliant psychopath who enjoys toying with both adults and teens. Through manipulation and drugs, she convinces two outcasts named Orange and Wiggins to take part in her schemes to kidnap a young girl and murder an old poet.

Wiggins is the most sympathetic of the characters and the only one that shows some mor...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Clementine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, cybils-2012, fiction, ya

When Bounce convinces her friends Wiggins and Orange to help her kidnap a little girl, they don’t question her motives. Such is the kind of hold Bounce has on the two boys. The four-year-old they hold hostage in Orange’s basement answers to the nickname “the Frog” and seems okay with being chained to the furniture. She spends her days playing a video game about wolves (a game which mirrors her actual existence a little too well). As things around the teens and the Frog escalate, guilt and tensio...more When Bounce convinces her friends Wiggins and Orange to help her kidnap a little girl, they don’t question her motives. Such is the kind of hold Bounce has on the two boys. The four-year-old they hold hostage in Orange’s basement answers to the nickname “the Frog” and seems okay with being chained to the furniture. She spends her days playing a video game about wolves (a game which mirrors her actual existence a little too well). As things around the teens and the Frog escalate, guilt and tensions run high, and every decision the teens make will have consequences.

This is a dark, dark book. It’s a book that’s going to leave many readers feeling wholly unsettled. Rapp doesn’t shy away from the darkest, most vile aspects of humanity, but he does so in a way that is realistic, compelling, and unforgettable. Not for the faint of heart, this book will stay with readers for a long time after they finish.

Although the novel is slim in volume, it’s jam-packed with issues. Rapp tackles class, privilege, intelligence, gender, sexual orientation, and drug addiction without even slowing down. His absolutely stunning prose makes this a read that is both savage and gorgeous. He demands a great deal from his readers, but it never feels pretentious or overwrought. This book pushes the limits in so many ways.

Through the characters of Wiggins, Orange, Bounce and the Frog, Rapp has created real, powerful voices. These characters are extremely well-developed in a very small amount of space and time. He manages to confront the reader with the realities of what it means to be marginalized and largely forgotten by society, and he isn’t shying away from how ugly that reality is.

This is a hard one to read, but readers won’t be able to look away–or put it down. The slightly ambiguous ending will keep readers guessing, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll be thinking about this one long after you’ve finished it. One of my favorite reads of 2012.

The Children and the Wolves by Adam Rapp. Candlewick: 2012. Library copy. Read for 2012 Cybils Round 1 Panel.(less)

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Apr 04, 2012 Meaghan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-young-adult-fiction, read-in-2012, drugs, juvenile-crime

Curiously enough, this is the second book Adam Rapp has written about a trio of incredibly dysfunctional, drugged-out young people who have kidnapped a small child. (The first was 33 Snowfish .) Both books are incredibly bleak with semi-hopeful endings. Of the two, however, I preferred the first. I couldn't decide which one I pitied the most, but I had a very hard time connecting to any of the characters in The Children and the Wolves. Perhaps if the book had been longer and I got to know them,...more

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Apr 03, 2012 Marissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-realistic

"Frog" is three years old. Frog was kidnapped by three teens named Bounce, Orange, and Wiggins. Said teens go around the neighborhood trying to raise money to help the rescue of the little girl. They hope to raise enough money so they can buy a gun and kill a poet who visited their school and angered Bounce. Meanwhile, Frog spends her days in Orange's basement, where she eats cereal, receives vitamins to keep her alive, and obsessively plays a video game where wild children and wolves fight one...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Uriel "Jabberwock" rated it 4 of 5 stars

Though a majority of this book still confuses me, it is something I would recommend for the mind of a thinker. I truly did think about this book a lot when I wasn't reading it, which is very often, as it is quite a short book. I think the book's length and setting in the children's lives was very interesting. It was just a slice of the story, which made it all the more interesting. Short sentences was one of the main writing tools that Rapp used in this book, which allows the reader to span out...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Meghan McInnis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

What did I just read?

This has to be one of the weirdest, most disturbing books I have ever read.

I don't think I really "got it".

The three stars are because he is a very good writer.

It was just...strange.

I was shocked by how much the N word was used in this book, though. Do 7th and 8th graders really drop that so easily in the United States?

I really don't know what else to say about this.

It was so...

I don't know.

It was terrifying. Abduction. Assault. Wow.

I think I need to read more of Adam Rapp...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, young-adult-novels

Frighteningly effective, The Children and the Wolves pushes the young adult tag probably as far as it can go, and the unapologetically coarse language is the least of it. Alternating viewpoints among the three captors and the little girl they've abducted, the novel's only misstep (which is also the thing that gives it any humanity at all) is focusing its attention on Wiggins, when the most fascinating character is Bounce. She disappears with about a third to go, and her lost presence weighs on t...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Sherry rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that either you really liked it and made you think; or you really hated it. A very disturbing book on many aspects and the conclusion is left hanging, probably on purpose. I think what is disturbing is the fact teens kidnapped a child, chained her up, and fed her drugs, which is not going to sit to well with people. On the other hand, this is one big allegory between what is happening in reality and comparing it to the fantasy of the game the child likes to play. I thi...more

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May 23, 2012 Courtney rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: abuse, bullying, horror-thriller, realistic-fiction, teen-fiction

OK, so I've heard that Adam Rapp's writing is gut-wrenching. When I read the description of this book, I figured I'd see just how disturbing it could really get. Turns out, pretty darn chilling.
Three middle-school-aged kids have kidnapped a 4-year-old girl whom they refer to as "the Frog" and are keeping her in one of their basements. The culprits are Wiggins, Orange and Bounce. Bounce is both wealthy and intelligent, but appears to lack any sense of compassion and is thoroughly manipulative ....more

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Apr 07, 2012 Brandy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, boy-books, bullies, for-reviews, realistic, teen, creepy-scary

Totally not sure about this one. For starters I know it's not my kind of book, but I'm having a hard time knowing whose kind of book it is. Three teens--one a very smart girl, the other two her dim-bulb guy friends--mastermind a plot to kidnap a young girl and collect money for a rescue effort.

The teens are supposed to be in 8th grade, but they read much older. Lots of sexual references and drug use make this most appropriate for older teens but the young age of the characters might turn those...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Melissapalmer404 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Book #12 Read in 2013
The Children and the Wolves by Adam Rapp (YA)

This is a hard to read book, telling about three very messed up young adults. Bounce, Wiggins and Orange are drug users, kidnappers and seemingly evil people. They kidnap the Frog, a three year old girl. They treat their parents with disrespect, steal money and drugs and plot to hurt others. This book is gritty but there is something about it that makes you have to keep reading. Will any of them be redeemed? Will any of them get c...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Amanda rated it 1 of 5 stars

The only good things I can say about this book is the cover was appealing and thankfully it was a short book.

Normally I like a good dark twisted book but this was just pointless. The story is told mainly from three characters and each of their narrative sounds exactly alike, ignorant and racist. I cannot stand when an author TRIES to have multiple characters tell the story and FAIL at giving each their own voice.

The mastermind behind the crime is a bored, spoiled, neglected rich girl who meets h...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Em rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013, for-when-kim-has-time-to-read

I don't know what to think of this book. It didn't feel like a story, more like a situation. Things happened, but it felt a bit disjointed and almost incomplete. The writing itself was interesting. Run on sentences, in correct grammar, exactly like how 13 year old boys might think. Bounce was like a sociopath not trying hard enough to keep it under wraps. A sociopath who will likely get caught at a young age due to being so bold at showing it. And Frog was not quite 4... and her chapters showed...more I don't know what to think of this book. It didn't feel like a story, more like a situation. Things happened, but it felt a bit disjointed and almost incomplete. The writing itself was interesting. Run on sentences, in correct grammar, exactly like how 13 year old boys might think. Bounce was like a sociopath not trying hard enough to keep it under wraps. A sociopath who will likely get caught at a young age due to being so bold at showing it. And Frog was not quite 4... and her chapters showed how a toddler might think... all nonsense and mixing up reality. The writing would have been grating had it not worked for the story. And while the story was rather unsettling, I read most of it all at once just to be done with it, I think it had potential to be worse, to actually be horror and something that is disturbing and utter nightmare fuel. But it fell short. The climax was rushed and rather vague. And though we see Wiggins' heel-face-turn coming, even without the synopsis to spoil that for you, it's still rushed, in my opinion. The story was only 152 pages, so it could have been fleshed out more, made a bit fuller.

That isn't to say it isn't packed full of enough issues to punch you in the stomach and take your lunch money. Wiggins is so undereducated that it's painful to watch him say things like "Afganisland" because he just doesn't know any better. And he needs help mentally, even though it's clear he'll never get it. Orange needs help in an entirely different way... he's abusive and obsessive and just downright unpleasant. Bounce I pretty much addressed above. But she's also filthy rich and willing to use that to her advantage, and then some, at only 14. And Frog... poor little frog. It's hard to imagine a world where this is possible and harder still to accept that adults were so absent it was allowed to continue for months.

There is a scene where Wiggins, after having come home with a missing tooth from a fight and failing to get his mother's attention, comes home with a black eye. His mother, who is a nurse, still addresses nothing, only tells him she's leaving for the weekend. It's not until she's gone and he's in further trouble that anyone notices, and this is a reality for some people. Some people have to deal with this level of neglect and this amount of power play on a daily basis. And that makes it all the more unsettling and awful.

I think it could have been better, fuller, yet I was a bit disappointed and a bit relieved when I got to the end and realized there wasn't more. And that's why I said at the start of this... I don't know what to think of this book.(less)

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Sep 21, 2012 Sonatajessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-kidz-are-alright, read-in-2012

In the end I am willing to give 3 stars. This book is dark, disturbing and punchy but it is a bit of a mess, too, especially the more you think about what you just read.
3 young teenagers kidnap a toddler which they call The Frog and hold captive in the basement. And that is not the sickest thing going on in this book, bleak and nihilistic Rapp presents us his characters, each gets its own chapters and voices and some end up being more distinct and meaningful than others.
The attitudes and world v...more

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Mar 04, 2012 E. Anderson rated it 4 of 5 stars

There are books out there that don't so much entertain the reader as hit the reader over the head. THE CHILDREN AND THE WOLVES is one of these books. Told in multiple perspectives, it's the story of three troubled teens and the little girl that they've kidnapped.

Yes, you read that right. Teenage kidnappers. Most of the characters in this novel are middle school age.

And yet, you feel for these kids. You want them to grow, to do the right thing, to get what they want in life. You want Bounce to ma...more

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Nov 06, 2012 Angelina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, social-issues

I am almost tempted to put this book on my horror shelf but it lacks any type of supernatural or paranormal element. The horror of this story is confined to sharp, animilistic humanity.

This is a parable of modern depravity. It is the damaged priveleged leading the needy and brutal underpriveleged by emotional puppet strings in this story of kidnapping and abuse.

If you let these characters into your psyche, you will be left wondering who is a wolf and who is a child.

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About Adam Rapp

Adam Rapp says that when he was working on his chilling, compulsively readable young adult novel 33 SNOWFISH, he was haunted by several questions. Among them: "When we have nowhere to go, who do we turn to? Why are we sometimes drawn to those who are deeply troubled? How far do we have to run before we find new possibilities?"

At once harrowing and hypnotic, 33 SNOWFISH--which was nominated as a Be...more Adam Rapp says that when he was working on his chilling, compulsively readable young adult novel 33 SNOWFISH, he was haunted by several questions. Among them: "When we have nowhere to go, who do we turn to? Why are we sometimes drawn to those who are deeply troubled? How far do we have to run before we find new possibilities?"

At once harrowing and hypnotic, 33 SNOWFISH--which was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association--follows three troubled young people on the run in a stolen car with a kidnapped baby in tow. With the language of the street and lyrical prose, Adam Rapp hurtles the reader into the world of lost children, a world that is not for the faint of heart. His narration captures the voices of two damaged souls (a third speaks only through drawings) to tell a story of alienation, deprivation, and ultimately, the saving power of compassion. "For those readers who are ready to be challenged by a serious work of shockingly realistic fiction," notes SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, "it invites both an emotional and intellectual response, and begs to be discussed."

Adam Rapp’s first novel, MISSING THE PIANO, was named a Best Book for Young Adults as well as a Best Book for Reluctant Readers by the American Library Association. His subsequent titles include THE BUFFALO TREE, THE COPPER ELEPHANT, and LITTLE CHICAGO, which was chosen as a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. The author’s raw, stream-of-consciousness writing style has earned him critical acclaim. "Rapp’s prose is powerful, graphic and haunting," says SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL. [He] writes in an earthy but adept language," says KIRKUS REVIEWS. "Takes a mesmerizing hold on the reader," adds HORN BOOK MAGAZINE.

In addition to being a novelist, Adam Rapp is also an accomplished and award-winning playwright. His plays--including NOCTURNE, ANIMALS AND PLANTS, BLACKBIRD, and STONE COLD DEAD SERIOUS--have been produced by the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the New York Theatre Workshop, and the Bush Theatre in London, among other venues.

Born and raised in Chicago, the novelist and playwright now lives in New York City.
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“No one answered. You could hear the light buzzing over us. I love that sound. It means school isn't working, that the teachers are losing the battle.” — 1 person liked it

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