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Reviewed by: Emily McFarlane, Elementary School Librarian Title: Artie and the Wolf Moon
Author: Olivia Stephens
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Year: 2021 Good for Grades: 6-10 Genre/Type of Book: Supernatural/Fantasy/Graphic Novel
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Mild themes of violence/fighting amongst vampires and werewolves, parental death, the lead character is LGBTQIA+ (great, natural rep, not a huge thing)
Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: Promoted on SORA
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
Artie really was raised by wolves!
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Review:
Artie and her mom have been having a tough time lately. When Artie sneaks out to take photos of the moon against her mother's wishes and sees a giant wolf, she thinks she's dead meat. She calls her mom to help, only to see the giant wolf TURN INTO HER MOM! This begins the unraveling of family secrets and history that Artie knew. When Artie discovers her own wolf powers, she is enveloped in a family that accepts her for who she is. As a late-bloomer though, she struggles to master her powers. Also, her mother still isn't very forthcoming about her entire past, and how her father left. Then, there's the vampires who are trying to hunt down the wolf family... it's a lot for one high school girl to deal with.
I loved this graphic novel. The art style was really different and flowed well. There were a lot of movement lines that helped the reader to follow the action, and I loved the use of color. A lot of the book was in cool tones- greens, blues, black, and greys. Since much of the book took place at night, the red colors for the wolf characters' eyes and transformation lines really popped. The earthy tones of the rest of the story kept it grounded which was comforting. I also enjoyed that it dealt with some heavier subject matter (parental death, feeling like an outcast, etc.) which can sometimes be glossed over in a YA/middle grade graphic novel. They allowed the characters' stories to develop fully, and the reader did get hit with the emotional blows at the right times.
I liked the new take on the classic "vampires vs. werewolves" rivalry, and the new mythologies brought to both species. It was refreshing when a lot of the content is often rehashing the same old tropes. I also liked that the main character ended up being LGBTQIA+, and it wasn't a big deal. She was just normal, and didn't need to have a big "coming out" narrative. (While that is also super important to see, I feel that kids also need to see normalized stories where LGBTQIA+ characters just *are* without needing to justify their existence to family members as well.) This was a good addition to the YA graphic novel sphere and I enjoyed reading it. I think fans of graphic novels and possibly your Twilight fans might gravitate toward this one.
Number of party hats:
For more information about this book, see the Author's Website
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Check this book out in the Monroe 2 Sora Collection
Check out this book in the Monroe One Sora Collection