Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

Aug 16, 2010 Annalisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Annalisa by: goodreads giveaway

Shelves: young-adult, issue, contemporary, cover

It's so nice to read a YA book about real issues. And I'm not talking about the awkwardness of being a teenage girl, of wearing the wrong outfit, of feeling that everyone else is popular and you're a social leper, of not understanding what boys mean or why they do the things they do, of struggling with an overbearing parent you can't relate to, although the book is about that too. But it's also about a world that's larger than us. In this case, it's about the Wolf Reintroduction Program at Yello...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Mollie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, may, library, ya

The first thing that should be mentioned about this book is that it is NOT a paranormal teen book. We're not talking were-wolves here. I think with the cover (which I love!) and the flood of paranormal teen books out that that should be made clear!

KJ who has, in her father's words, "blossomed" over the summer but, unlike many other teen novels where the ugly duckling turns into a beauty, she doesn't miraculously become popular. Love it. I think it's a good lesson for teens (and the rest of us) t...more The first thing that should be mentioned about this book is that it is NOT a paranormal teen book. We're not talking were-wolves here. I think with the cover (which I love!) and the flood of paranormal teen books out that that should be made clear!

KJ who has, in her father's words, "blossomed" over the summer but, unlike many other teen novels where the ugly duckling turns into a beauty, she doesn't miraculously become popular. Love it. I think it's a good lesson for teens (and the rest of us) that being skinnier, taller, shorter, prettier, etc., etc., is NOT going to solve all of our problems. KJ, as it turns out, is still as much of an outsider as she ever was.

I loved the whole pro-wolf/anit-wolf sentiments in the book. At first KJ sees the issue in black and white but when she learns more about the issues on both sides I think she comes to see that, in the end, not everything is black and white, there are a lot of shades of gray. That doesn't just apply to the wolves but to the people in her life as well. I think it's interseting to note that this issue isn't fabricated, it's based on real issues facing wolves, environmentalists, naturalists, ranchers, etc. You can read about "the story behind the story" on the author's website.

This book is ultimately about KJ's relationship with people: her father, Virgil, and the town as a whole. I also loved how there's no tidy HEA for KJ and Virgil like I've seen in many of the other teen books I've read lately (ie. Perfect Chemistry & Rules of Attraction). I think it was Nath who's mentioned several times that she doesn't buy the HEA type ending in YA books. I tend to agree but this one has a very realistic ending for KJ and Virgil. Although I expect some people will have wanted. . . more. But I think it was perfect for this book!

In a nutshell, I LOVED this book. I thought it was smart, extremely well written, and completely refreshing. This is Kristen Chandler's debut title and I will be looking forward to more from this author.(less)

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Aug 19, 2011 Melannie :) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2011, favorites

I LOOOOOVED THIS BOOK.

I know it's a little early in the year to say this,
but it will probably be my favorite of 2011,
it has THAT potencial.

It was amazing. It was one of those times when you just love EVERYTHING about a book. Even though it couldn't be more
alien to me, not even paranormal books are farther from my reality,
yet I loved it. And connect with every character, understood everyone of them.

And if you're like me a don't really care about wolves,
it doesn't matter! the wolf part is not bo...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Makenna Phillips rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me was an interesting teen book. The main character, KJ was a girl that was not popular, but was slowly growing into the person that she wanted to be. Her mother died when she was young, and her Father didn’t exactly know how to raise a girl, and so he treated her more like she was a boy. KJ is tough, but she is still very girly and sensitive to the issues around her. She has an interesting perspective on life, and while there was the typical teen ro...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: meh, okay-books, onedayread

I decided to read the book, Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me, because of its title. Yes, it is lengthy, but it caught my attention and got me to open the book. The book was an easy read (I finished it in about a day) and definitely a page-turner, but I was disappointed with the book as a whole.

Here are the reasons why:

The book is really not about wolves. It is about KJ, the protagonist, and the relationships she forms with her father, Virgil, and the townspeople. Even the portio...more I decided to read the book, Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me, because of its title. Yes, it is lengthy, but it caught my attention and got me to open the book. The book was an easy read (I finished it in about a day) and definitely a page-turner, but I was disappointed with the book as a whole.

Here are the reasons why:

The book is really not about wolves. It is about KJ, the protagonist, and the relationships she forms with her father, Virgil, and the townspeople. Even the portions of the novel that focus on the wolves are primarily about the people’s response to them. The book can be classified as a coming-of-age and political story, but not a naturalist one. Saying that, I felt like I learned a lot about both sides of the wolves reintroduction issue. I had always thought of wolves in Yellowstone as a good thing, a way to save their species from extinction. I did not think of the negative ramifications of this move, such as how it affected ranchers and other people living in the area. However, I still wish that the wolves themselves had played a bigger part in the plot. The sections that discussed the story behind the Cinderella wolf and Wolf #42 were my favorite parts of the book and I would have liked to be updated on their actions throughout the story.

That brings me to the next issue. Anytime that a reader is more interested in the animals than the people in the novel, you know there is a problem with the characters. I was not a fan of any of the main characters. I thought they were poorly developed. Some of this problem was the dialogue. It was very simplistic and made the characters seem more stereotypical. Instead of relating to KJ, I was annoyed and bored. She reminded me of the classic YA whiny female protagonist, with political issues substituted for the YA focus on supernatural elements. I never connected with Virgil either. His personality seemed to be constantly changing from nonchalant to passionate to funny to serious. I also thought the relationship between KJ and Virgil progressed way too quickly to seem realistic. She tells Vigil she thinks he is gay and a week later, they were kissing. That kind of thing does not happen. The character I did like was the father. I felt like I understood his relationship with KJ and I liked how it developed over the book.

To conclude, I really do think that the book is okay. It was interesting enough that I finished it. But I think it could have been much better with a great focus on the wolves, a more sophisticated writing style, and better character development.
(less)

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Mar 15, 2013 Chelsea N rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I once dated a redneck. Worst mistake of my life. He talked about 4 wheeling, hunting and beer all the time. Being a city girl, I broke up with him a few months later.

I still don't know why I dated him, but this book was a painful reminder of the conversations I sat through in his house. Oh my gosh. The times they talked about their cattle is the same number of times the word wolf is used in this book.

That being said, Chandler hit these conversations on the head. While reading this book I want...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Robin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Different, inspiring, a good clean teen read

Rating: 3.5

Summary: KJ decides to help the local wolves on the endangered species list by writing a column for the school paper. Little does she know the effects her and her new boy interest's actions will have on their small town.

Opinion: A lot of good things went into this book: environmental awareness, teen issues, animal protection. But the story didn't have enough umph to really draw me in. The love story could have been played up more and I would...more

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Jun 23, 2012 Jan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

KJ lives with her dad in West End, Montana, just outside of Yellowstone National Park, where her dad is a park guide and owns an outfitting store. She has always loved watching the wolves in the park. When a new boy, Virgil, comes to town, KJ is delighted to discover that his mom moved there so she could study the wolves, and KJ eagerly joins her.

Part wolf story, part high school relationships story, and part Yellowstone wildlife story, this is a well-developed novel of the complex interaction b...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Claire rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: high-school-fairs, 8th-grade-and-up

I liked this because the story and characters are quite readable and engaging and also that it stands well as a metaphor for what our culture is facing now: guarded camps the could benefit from positive action and civil discourse.
So. KJ lives with her dad, Mom died in an accident when KJ was three- all fine Dad is a fishing/hunting guide and KJ his assistant.
Dad is taciturn and still grieving, KJ knows how to deal. Now though, she is 17, filling out and confused about new situations and the att...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Aimee (Coffee Table Reviews) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

I bought this not really knowing what it was about. The cover got my attention, but it was the title that made me buy it without checking it out. I was pretty happy with what I got. I enjoyed the story and the road to discovery that KJ was on.

This had quite a lot on the wolves of Yellowstone in it and about those who are for it (wildlife enthusiasts, scientists, the government) and those against it (hunters, ranchers) and it was interesting to see how something like that might affect a community...more

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Sep 17, 2011 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't read a ton of contemporary YA fiction- a lot of times I want the escape that comes with paranormal and fantasy, but every once in a while I will scoop up something more realistic. The quickest way to get me to grab your book? Yellowstone. It's as easy as that. So this book, set just outside the park in Montana and focusing on the controversy that came with the reintroduction of wolves in 1997, was a no brainer. I've done reports on the subject and spent countless hours sitting on the hil...more I don't read a ton of contemporary YA fiction- a lot of times I want the escape that comes with paranormal and fantasy, but every once in a while I will scoop up something more realistic. The quickest way to get me to grab your book? Yellowstone. It's as easy as that. So this book, set just outside the park in Montana and focusing on the controversy that came with the reintroduction of wolves in 1997, was a no brainer. I've done reports on the subject and spent countless hours sitting on the hill in Lamar Valley watching the Druid Peak pack go about their lives. I've sat on a carcass (not really sat on- I've sat in pull offs and watched a carcass) in the hopes that I will glimpse a wolf or grizzly coming in for a meal. I've said it before, and will say it again I'm sure, Yellowstone, for me is home. So any chance to visit I'll take. I live a four DAYS drive away, so a lot of times that visit comes through a book or tv show. Needless to say I was excited to read this one. So how did it do as far as visits go?

Simply put, it was excellent. I could see everything KJ and Virgil saw and was totally invested in their journey as they tried to figure out who they are and what they believe in. KJ, a lifer in her small town has grown up with one point of view, that the wolves are both bad for business (as far as the ranchers are concerned) and good for tourism (as far as her fathers guide business is concerned), but she doesn't feel passionately one way or the other. Other people in town do though, they want the wolves gone, and fast. Virgil on the other hand, blows into town with his mother, who studies wolves for a living and is sqaurely on the opposing side. For her, and by extension Virgil, the wolves are a great thing. When Virgil and KJ and partnered up on a column for the school paper on the wolves they find themselves confronting their own beliefs, the beliefs of the town and trying to find a way for everyone to live together.

I'm going to talk for one quick minute about KJ's come to Jesus moments regarding the wolves. It was good, and for me it was also funny. Here's why. Shortly after the wolves were released from their reintroduction pens in the Lamar Valley my family visited the park (as we did every couple years). Of course we were hoping to catch a glimpse of the wolves. There is a road in valley that goes back to a trailhead, camping area and a nice spot to fish called Slough Creek. We were stopped in there scanning for animals when I looked behind me and saw, up on a huge boulder, a black wolf. I looked at him, he stared at me, and then he backed off away from the ledge and was gone. It was my first connection to the wolves and it really does change you. I had no opinion before that moment besides "it's cool", afterwards I was certain of why the reintroduction was good and why we now had to protect the wolves. KJ's moment seemed to mirror mine. Everything she saw and felt made absolute sense to me. It was pretty awesome.

One thing that I feel the need to mention is that I wonder if people who do not travel to Yellowstone and the area often feel lost in the descriptions of where Virgil and KJ go with Virgil's mom in the park. To me it's as familiar as walking through my house, but I worry that others might not visualize it as I do, and mabye additional descriptions of what the area looks like might help. I'd be interested to know what others thought if they are not at home in the park.

Overall though, this was a phenomenal book. Chandler nailed it as far as I'm concerned. Not only did she bring me back to Yellowstone, but she created believable characters who are dealing with an issue that happens all the time around the park. I thought it was all really well done. (less)

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Aug 29, 2011 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-lit

KJ lives in Yellowstone National Park with her father, a former lawyer turned hunting and fishing guide, and is one of the most "real" characters I've met in a long time. She's klutzy, insecure, and dyslexic, but at the same time she's funny, spunky, and brave. The people in and around Yellowstone are dealing with the reintroduction of wolves to the park and all the consequences of that. The wolves become characters in the novel themselves as KJ gets caught up in the dilemma while also dealing w...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Natalie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, romance, yellowstone, young-adult, science-geek

I love good surprises and this book definately counts!

I bought this on a whim because it mentioned Yellowstone, which is a major obsession of mine. I figured (wrongly) that because it is YA book with a girl and a wolf on the cover it would be a melodramatic werewolf book about a girl from out of town or something. You know?

But I was totally wrong! This book was great! KJ, the heroine, lives in a slightly fictionalized version of West Yellowstone Montana and works in her father's fishing shop a...more

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Feb 14, 2011 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There is no question that environmentalism is one of the "in" things for today's teens. This novel takes a look at one teen eco-warrior who is hoping to make a difference in her hometown. KJ Carson lives in a small town in Montana that borders on Yellowstone National Park. She lives with her dad, who is a local nature guide and a fishing store owner. KJ's mom died when she was just a little girl.

The whole town (as well as nearby communities) are thrown into an uproar over a 1995 federal program...more There is no question that environmentalism is one of the "in" things for today's teens. This novel takes a look at one teen eco-warrior who is hoping to make a difference in her hometown. KJ Carson lives in a small town in Montana that borders on Yellowstone National Park. She lives with her dad, who is a local nature guide and a fishing store owner. KJ's mom died when she was just a little girl.

The whole town (as well as nearby communities) are thrown into an uproar over a 1995 federal program to reintroe endangered wolves back into Yellowstone. Since so many residents are cattle ranchers, there is a great amount of fear for what damage the new arrivals will do.

The wolves are not the only arrival. There is also a new student in school named Virgil, and it seems like he has ended up in all of her classes, including journalism. It is through that class that the two really get to know each other when they are assigned to work as a team on a column called "Wolf Notes," which will focus on the newly arrived wolves in Yellowstone. KJ, who is the editor of the school paper and a great work, finds a natural fit with Virgil, who is a master photographer and the son of one of the scientists that are studying the wolves.

As you can imagine, the newspaper column is not exactly well-received by members of the community. Virgil and KJ quickly become the target of animosity from fellow students and other folks in the community. Before long, there is a shooting at a town parade, a fire at the Carsons' fishing store, and the town seems to be about to tear itself apart as the two sides come to blows. KJ and Virgil and their friends try to come up with a plan to smooth the ruffled feathers by helping to protect local cattle, but nature and the instability of one local young man is going to make that difficult.

Chandler has done a very nice of capturing realistic voices in her characters, whether they be teens or adults. She also nicely captures the difficulties of the situation as both sides are presented with respect. It also highlights how easily things can get out of hands when people passionately care about an issue.

With all of this going for it, it was really surprising to me at how much the book seems to drag. The story is interesting, and I definitely wanted to finish the book to see what happened. The pacing just seemed to be off a bit. I am not sure that everyone would be willing to stick with it.(less)

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Nov 24, 2010 Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, young-adult

Campaigning for the wolves of Yellowstone National Park was never in sixteen-year-old KJ Carson’s plans. Small town, park life and the outdoors is such an inseparable part of her already, how was writing about the wolves in the school newspaper any different? Growing up in West End, Montana with a wildlife guide and sports shopkeeper for a dad, her daily life has consisted of rowing, fishing, and going wolf watching and elk hunting during tourist season. So why would it be seen as taking sides i...more Campaigning for the wolves of Yellowstone National Park was never in sixteen-year-old KJ Carson’s plans. Small town, park life and the outdoors is such an inseparable part of her already, how was writing about the wolves in the school newspaper any different? Growing up in West End, Montana with a wildlife guide and sports shopkeeper for a dad, her daily life has consisted of rowing, fishing, and going wolf watching and elk hunting during tourist season. So why would it be seen as taking sides if she simply recorded her observations of the newly reintroduced wolves with the new guy Virgil and his wolf expert mother Eloise? But with an apparent cause and a cute boy at her side KJ’s never been happier. Until a shotgun blast reminds her that the wolf will always be seen as “the big bad wolf” in West End cattle rancher central. Old KJ would back down, but with more at stake than her life and reputation, she’s prepared to stand up for all she loves, wolf and human alike.

What an unexpected, stand-out-in-a-crowd kind of YA novel Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me (WBOT) turned out to be. Though some may be disappointed in its lack of supernatural wolves, that is precisely why I even gave it a second look. Add that refreshing premise to a cool, snappy title and a beautiful, exceptional cover and I was sold.

I’m happy to say that my expectations held up from the first page until the last. KJ and her dad guiding noisy, ignorant tourists wolf watching in the first chapter had me at “your other left, KJ.” Their relationship is raw, complicated, and one of my favorite parts of the book. Love her or hate her, KJ’s very different life is intriguing and her voice strong. She’s sarcastic, she’s dry-witted, and she has an almost flippant confidence in the obvious lack of care she has for what others think of her. I mean, why would it matter if she only has one friend or people have been noticing lately that she finally needs a grown-up bra and has grown her hair out? Part tomboy KJ doesn’t. She does care however when the shaggy blonde-haired boy from Minnesota notices and she still manages to hilariously screw that up, at least in the beginning. KJ’s quirky teachers like Mrs. Baby (she means Brady) and fellow students like Addie and Kenner grew on me, obnoxious hillbilly sensibilities and caricature personalities aside. You’re not really sure if some of these intitially unforgettably distinct types will have more depth as the story progresses, but their vulnerabilities eventually emerge. There may also be a few rural town, environmental, shotgun stereotypes here but on the whole I found the setting authentic and interesting (Kristen Chandler grew up near Yellowstone herself) and the characterization of WBOT delightful. Recommended for fans of YA contemp with a little romance and a lot of compelling drama on the side.(less)

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Nov 17, 2010 Emily Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I suppose this was a nice enough book, but I wasn't wowed. In its defense, I think several things were working against my liking it: I tend not to enjoy books about Real People with Real Problems; I also don't even kinda sorta care about wolves, so the pages filled with descriptions of wolves and their social structure didn't work for me.

But I did learn a lot about wolves and the problems that their reintroduction to Yellowstone caused, which is a subject I knew nothing about beforehand. That wa...more

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Nov 08, 2010 BookKids rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: realistic, teen

KJ lives in a small town just outside Yellowstone National Park where her father owns a successful outdoors-store and hunting/fishing guide business. Although not exactly content to stay in the background, she has no intention of ever seeking the limelight. Then for the school newspaper, she is asked to write a series of articles about the controversial wolves that have been reintroduced into Yellowstone. She intends for the series to be balanced, but when the first article is pro-wolf, and when...more KJ lives in a small town just outside Yellowstone National Park where her father owns a successful outdoors-store and hunting/fishing guide business. Although not exactly content to stay in the background, she has no intention of ever seeking the limelight. Then for the school newspaper, she is asked to write a series of articles about the controversial wolves that have been reintroduced into Yellowstone. She intends for the series to be balanced, but when the first article is pro-wolf, and when she becomes involved with a visiting pro-wolf student, the town turns out to be anything but balanced. Violence erupts, and KJ’s world turns inside out.

This would be another well-written, fascinating book about a reluctant activist being drawn into a world of ecological awareness she had never previously considered. It’s also a tale that shows how little it can take to bring deep seeded hatreds flying back to the surface. In this case, the spark is a single newspaper article written in a high school paper — not normally a catalyst for social change.

But at it’s heart this book is really more about a girl trying to find her own feelings on the subject. KJ loves the wolves but she can see the ranchers’ perspective. She likes and is drawn to the boy, Virgil, but she can see how he might be too much for some of her classmates. Kj is trying to find herself, but she’s doing it not through thinking constantly of herself, like in many teen books, but by mirroring her self-discovery onto the issue of the wolves. In many ways the division of the town over the wolves is a metaphor for the division in KJ herself.

I would recommend this book for kids 15 & up or really advanced readers 13 & up. Nothing in the book is unsuitable for younger teens (despite some violence), but the book is a harder read literature-wise than many teen books. It is a deep book that makes you think and consider with very few lighthearted moments to break the tension. However, it is also a brilliant book that should be read by all teens at some point if only to remind them that divisive issues do exist and that sometimes we must make a painful choice. (less)

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Aug 02, 2010 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

OK...I know the title sounds like the Twilight series but no, not even. This is a teen fiction set in Yellowstone. Our heroine, KJ, is a high school student. She helps her father with his sporting goods store and occasionally on his fishing and hunting expeditions where he acts as a guide. She is just starting a new school year and is enrolled in a journalism class that puts out a weekly school newspaper. Imagine her astonishment when the weekly column she is writing on wolves ends up dividing t...more

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Jul 15, 2010 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: girl-appeal, romance, ya-fiction

KJ Carson lives in West End Montana, with a whopping population of 948 people. You can just begin to imagine how exciting her small town life is in West End.

Wolves, Boys, & Other Things That Might Kill Me kicks off with KJ starting a new year at school and things are about to get a lot more interesting. There's a new guy at school who's pretty cute and he and KJ are assigned to write a column for the school newspaper about the local wolf packs.

This may sound like a pretty tame assingment,...more

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Jul 06, 2010 Madeline Smoot rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: teen

KJ lives in a small town just outside Yellowstone National Park where her father owns a successful outdoors-store and hunting/fishing guide business. Although not exactly content to stay in the background, she has no intention of ever seeking the limelight. Then for the school newspaper, she is asked to write a series of articles about the controversial wolves that have been reintroduced into Yellowstone. She intends for the series to be balanced, but when the first article is pro-wolf, and when...more KJ lives in a small town just outside Yellowstone National Park where her father owns a successful outdoors-store and hunting/fishing guide business. Although not exactly content to stay in the background, she has no intention of ever seeking the limelight. Then for the school newspaper, she is asked to write a series of articles about the controversial wolves that have been reintroduced into Yellowstone. She intends for the series to be balanced, but when the first article is pro-wolf, and when she becomes involved with a visiting pro-wolf student, the town turns out to be anything but balanced. Violence erupts, and KJ’s world turns inside out.

This would be another well-written, fascinating book about a reluctant activist being drawn into a world of ecological awareness she had never previously considered. It’s also a tale that shows how little it can take to bring deep seeded hatreds flying back to the surface. In this case, the spark is a single newspaper article written in a high school paper — not normally a catalyst for social change.

But at it’s heart this book is really more about a girl trying to find her own feelings on the subject. KJ loves the wolves but she can see the ranchers’ perspective. She likes and is drawn to the boy, Virgil, but she can see how he might be too much for some of her classmates. Kj is trying to find herself, but she’s doing it not through thinking constantly of herself, like in many teen books, but by mirroring her self-discovery onto the issue of the wolves. In many ways the division of the town over the wolves is a metaphor for the division in KJ herself.

I would recommend this book for kids 15 & up or really advanced readers 13 & up. Nothing in the book is unsuitable for younger teens (despite some violence), but the book is a harder read literature-wise than many teen books. It is a deep book that makes you think and consider with very few lighthearted moments to break the tension. However, it is also a brilliant book that should be read by all teens at some point if only to remind them that divisive issues do exist and that sometimes we must make a painful choice.(less)

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Feb 17, 2013 Amanda N. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 tw...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Adriana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 Vi...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Kiirsi Hellewell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I LOVED this book. Loved, loved, LOVED. And I am not exactly sure why...it's more of a "quiet" book in a way, with complicated characters and problems. There's sadness, and hatred.

But the main characters really do a lot of growing and changing. They're not the same people at the end of the book as they were at the start, and it happens so skillfully that you don't even realize the gradual progress. I like the romantic relationship and I like the fact that this is a CLEAN book really, without a...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Penelope marked it as will-not-finish · review of another edition

Shelves: blogger-friend-recommendations, reviewed-books

I'm not giving this a rating because I did not--and will not--finish it. But I'm definitely including my reasons why. Here's the thing:

The beginning rocked. It started off as something potentially compelling. I even wrote down a few quotes, wanting to remember them. But I was more than half-way through the book when I realized that I just didn't care for it at all. The story felt contrived; all made up to fit around a big environmental message. I don't mind messages (and I donated to the save th...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Deborah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: interesting-unusual-premise, realistic

My feelings about this book are rather conflicted, even though I know a lot of my friends are big fans of this book, and I was certainly a big fan of her second novel Girls Don't Fly. I think the writing is outstanding, and the storylines and characters are so complex and well thought that I almost think this could have been marketed as a book for adults as well as teens. But it was difficult to read because so many of the things that happen and that the characters do are so intense and hard to...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ms, isinglass, reality, young-adult

I really liked the writing in this story. Kristen Chandler does a wonderful job presenting a multi-faceted story. KJ and her dad own a fishing guide/retail business, and KJ's mom died in a car accident when she was just a baby. Her dad is hard on her, and not much of a supporter with words. It's her senior year of high school, and one of her classes is journalism. She wasn't planning on writing about wolves, but then Virgil shows up - a new shaggy-haired boy whose mother is a wildlife biologist....more

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Apr 05, 2011 Mrs. Riding rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, local-authors

KJ Carson lives outside Yellowstone and works for her Dad helping with the store and guiding visitors on fishing and hunting trips. The little town doesn’t see many people around during the off season, but this year a new boy moves in named Virgil. Usually KJ doesn’t fall for the good looking popular type, but this guy is different. Virgil and KJ are assigned to work together on an assignment for the school newspaper about the reintroduction of the wolves to Yellowstone Park. This begins an adve...more

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Jan 27, 2011 Marina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, contemporary, realistic-fiction

The horrible cover aside, this was a very good book. Wolves have always been of interest to me (probably because they're related to dogs) and I thought this book was a good way to introduct people to wolves, their endangerment and their reintroduction to Yellowstone and all of the controversies surrounding that. KJ Carson (real name Katherine and, I swear, the entire book I waiting for somebody to start using the nickname Kit for her but, alas, that never happened), having lived in the small Yel...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Rochelle (Books Like Stars) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-read-in-2013

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 th...more

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Oct 11, 2012 Janet Dominguez rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I chose this book because I tend to like books based on or around wolves. The plot follows KJ Carson, the daughter of a fishing and wildlife guide in the small town of West End, Montana. After she is chosen to be the editor of the school newspaper, a town conflict begins over the controvesial Yellowstone wolves. As a result, she, with some help from Virgil, (unintentionally) takes the conflict into her own hands, and at times makes it worse without meaning to. My favorite quote from the story is...more

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title link	preview: Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8048551-wolves-boys-and-other-things-that-might-kill-me?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348217280l/8048551.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8048551-wolves-boys-and-other-things-that-might-kill-me?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler[/url]

Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me

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