NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
Christa Lewis’s breathy narration is apt in the novel’s opening as 6-year-old Yael is selected by a cruel commandant at a concentration camp to receive a series of shots that give her the ability to shape-shift. Lewis transitions easily between accents and emotional tones that color and define characters, situations, and time periods. Later, after Hitler has won WWII, 17-year-old Yael becomes Aryan Adele Wolf, who is hoping to win a continental motorcycle race—and an opportunity to assassinate Hitler. Lewis’s voice is fittingly breathless throughout the grueling race, fraught with the tension of intrigues, betrayals, and other twists. Lewis’s reading is as compelling as the fast-paced writing and the lyrical imagery. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 08/03/2015
In a story that imagines what might have followed had the Axis powers triumphed, a Nazi doctor’s concentration camp experiments turn Jewish-born Yael into an Aryan beauty, inadvertently allowing the 17-year-old to manipulate her appearance like a shapeshifter: “The girl who was no one. Who could be everyone.” After joining the resistance, Yael takes the form of national darling Adele Wolfe in a cross-continental motorcycle race on a mission to get in the same room with Hitler and end his rule. Graudin (The Walled City) crafts another fast-paced, enthralling tale of sacrifice and dogged determination as she fuses alternate history and spy-thriller suspense. During each leg of the sprawling race, Yael searches for allies—deciding whether to trust Felix, Adele’s twin brother, or Luka, the girl’s onetime love interest—and attempts to maintain her cover. Simultaneously, she struggles to maintain a grip on herself and her past, which is peeled back layer by layer in exquisite flashbacks. A provocative rumination on self-preservation, the greater good, and the boundaries that keep heroes from becoming as cruel as those they fight. Ages 15–up. Agent: Tracey Adams, Adams Literary. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
An Amazon Best Book of the Year
A Huffington Post Top Ten YA Book of the Year
"Wild and gorgeous, vivid and consuming. I loved it! I can't wait for the sequel."—Laini Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy
"A haunting portrayal of one girl's courage in the face of a vicious world. I was racing along with Yael until the book's heart-pounding conclusion. A triumph."—Megan Shepherd, author of The Madman's Daughter
"Ryan Graudin opens one of the darkest chapters in history and spins a what if into an incredible tale of survival, identity, and purpose. This is the kind of book you can't put down, and the kind that follows you long after you have. It is, quite simply, a masterpiece."—Victoria Schwab, author of The Archived series
"The rush of an action movie combined with a flawlessly executed history, this is the book I've been waiting for. I loved WOLF BY WOLF, and I'm not speaking to my friends till they've read and loved it too."
—Jackson Pearce, author of Sisters Red and Tsarina
"WOLF BY WOLF completely immerses the reader in a story they'll never forget. Filled to the brim with tension and intrigue, nonstop action, and a vivid cast of characters, you'll feel every bump in the road they ride. I simply couldn't stop reading--and wherever Ryan Graudin rides next, I'll follow."
—Amie Kaufman, New York Times bestselling author of These Broken Stars
"We loved Yael's poignant flashbacks and the heart-pounding adrenaline of the race and her mission. This is WWII meets X-men meets The Hunger Games on motorcycles, with a kickass heroine and cute guys.—Justine Magazine
* "Graudin (The Walled City) crafts another fast-paced, enthralling tale of sacrifice and dogged determination as she fuses alternate history and spy-thriller suspense. A provocative rumination on self-preservation, the greater good, and the boundaries that keep heroes from becoming as cruel as those they fight."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
* "Beyond its breath-taking climax, the novel provokes deeper questions about the 'moreness' Yael begins to see in her competitors' identities, and in her own."—VOYA (starred review)
"Graudin's prose is artful and addictive."—School Library Journal
"Alternate histories can be risky gambits, but in Graudin's capable hands, it pays off in spades. Yael is a compelling protagonist, both strong and flawed, and, even imbued as it is with sci-fi elements, seeing both WWII and the concentration camp experience through her eyes is a terrifying adventure."—Booklist
"With this complex and well-crafted mix of action, emotion, and alternate history, Graudin provides something new and notable for readers of historical and dystopian fiction."—The Bulletin
"Give this to fans of espionage novels, and strong female protagonists; some dystopian fans may even take to the resistance storyline."—School Library Connection
NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
Christa Lewis’s breathy narration is apt in the novel’s opening as 6-year-old Yael is selected by a cruel commandant at a concentration camp to receive a series of shots that give her the ability to shape-shift. Lewis transitions easily between accents and emotional tones that color and define characters, situations, and time periods. Later, after Hitler has won WWII, 17-year-old Yael becomes Aryan Adele Wolf, who is hoping to win a continental motorcycle race—and an opportunity to assassinate Hitler. Lewis’s voice is fittingly breathless throughout the grueling race, fraught with the tension of intrigues, betrayals, and other twists. Lewis’s reading is as compelling as the fast-paced writing and the lyrical imagery. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2015-06-29
Mixing fantasy elements into an alternative, what-if-Hitler-won historical setting, Graudin delivers a wildly oscillating tale. It's 1956: Germany and Japan have split the world (the isolationist U.S. is still sitting it out). An annual motorcycle race, a sort of peaceful war, with contestants from each of their empires is the biggest media moment of the year. For Yael, a Jewish camp escapee and survivor of horrific medical experimentation, the race is a chance to strike a blow for the resistance that has raised her. Her ability to "skinshift" means she can assume any female form, including that of Adele Wolfe, perfect Aryan and the only girl to previously compete. Graudin's strange sentence constructions, clearly deliberate but grammatically idiosyncratic ("Smelled the stick of his blood"; "clinging to life and bright"), will distract some readers; others will overlook the cluttered writing and weak character development, particularly Yael's, for those moments when pulse-pounding action takes over and propels the narrative forward with a rush. Lofty ideas about race and identity (helpfully detailed in the author's note) and deep-seated personal anguish and self-examination compete with action-adventure tropes and even a bit of star-crossed romantic tension. This unevenness makes this novel less than the sum of its parts, although it's still an intriguing read. For those who stay in it through the finish, there is a promise of more to come; here's hoping it's better balanced. (Historical fiction/fantasy. 12-16)
