I really loved this book. It's gorgeously written, full of wisdom, and hard to put down. The thing is, I'm not entirely convinced it's a children's book. Someone told me the author originally imagined it being marketed to adults but she was persuaded to turn it into a middle grade novel. Even if that's not true, it seems true. Like [b:The Catcher in the Rye|5107|The Catcher in the Rye|J.D. Salinger|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1398034300s/5107.jpg|3036731] and [b:To Kill a Mockingbird|2657|To Kill a Mockingbird|Harper Lee|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1361975680s/2657.jpg|3275794], this book is complex enough for any adult, but happens to follow the experiences of a young person. Does that in itself make it a YA or middle grade book? As I was reading I noted many places where the meaning was so subtle, I had to re-read it and then put the book down for a minute to ponder. It was also so heart-wrenching at times, so real, that tears sprang to my eyes. I'm not saying this book is "inappropriate" for children. I'm saying most children are probably not mature enough to really sink their teeth into it. The voice of the narration is that of an older Annabelle looking back on the year before she turned 12. It's not fully an 11-year-old's voice, though the narration accounts for what she perceived at the time, versus what she understands in retrospect.

Literature is literature, no matter who it's marketed to, but I feel like this will present a challenge to award committees. This is, without a doubt, one of the finest books I've ever read. But I can't imagine recommending it to many children. Teens, yes. Adults, definitely. It is my sincere hope that it finds a wide readership despite being sold as middle grade fiction. It explores prejudice against people who are perceived as "odd" and the difficult balance between doing what is right and what is expected. Annabelle's mother has some wonderfully powerful lines - the one about numbness and hurt comes to mind. Toby is a character that reminds me (and a lot of readers) of Boo Radley, but he also made me thing of [b:The Things They Carried|133518|The Things They Carried|Tim O'Brien|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1424663847s/133518.jpg|1235619], especially because he carries those heavy guns on his back. Annabelle as a narrator reminded me a little of Briony in [b:Atonement|6867|Atonement|Ian McEwan|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1320449708s/6867.jpg|2307233] because of her perspicacity and also her unusual position of power as a child in an adult world. Betty, though a villain, still inspires traces of sympathy. But, I have to admit, I thought mostly of Macaulay Culkin's character in the movie The Good Son (which I just googled and learned was written by Ian McEwan! Who knew?)

If you've made it this far and haven't read the book, I hope you do. ( )

the ending of this really hit it out of the park, and pulled together everything else in this that i hadn't been quite sure about. but all the way through, this was engaging, thoughtful, and full of many different kinds of people and their reasoning. it's a valuable little book, especially for young readers, even as the ending felt much more adult than expected. ( )

Representation: N/A?
Trigger warnings: Physical injury, animal death, bullying, war themes, PTSD, loss of an eye, blood depiction, infection, death of a child, grief and loss depiction, death of a soldier, scars, hospitalisation
Score: Six points out of ten.
This review can also be found on The StoryGraph.

6.5/10, I have been wanting to read this for quite a while and I finally did and although I found this to be quite well written but it was one of the most brutal books I have ever read, everything here is just too bleak and depressing and there's probably not a single hint of any positive emotions, where do I begin. It's not even a young adult book either, I am just so confused. It starts with the main character Annabelle living in a place called Wolf Hollow, hence the title and everything appears normal until the main antagonist who is a city girl called Betty decides to show up and wow is she an antagonist, just look at all of her despicable actions. Anyways Betty first decides to screw up Annabelle's life by bullying her physically and verbally if she doesn't do her whims and then she ruthlessly crushes a bird with her bare hands. Wow, and if you think this is already depressing it gets much worse. After a while, Betty disappears for whatever reason and that sets the scene for Annabelle to meet this new character called Toby who seemingly is a WWI veteran with PTSD, I don't really know but other characters describe him as odd, so there's that. Toby starts being accused for something and I don't know what that thing exactly is but I found out towards the end which was quite a disheartening experience by the way. It turns out that Betty after being missing for so long was found in a well stuck there and another character pulled her out and it looked like she would be saved despite the fact that she did not come out unscathed, she was later hospitalised in the last few pages. Toward the end of the book Annabelle focuses on Toby and something devastating happened when Betty died of her infection, then the police shot Toby, funerals were held for them and that just ends it on a really low note. ( )

Read this for Battle of the Books. It was fine, but predictable. It is a children's book though, and maybe for a child, it wouldn't be so obvious how it would end. ( )

This book reminds me of Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell because the authors are not afraid to tell a story with a sad life lesson. I think it is important for children to read books that don't have a happy ending. For children who are living a life with no happy endings it lets them know they are not alone. For children that are living a life with minimal problems it opens up their minds to the possibilities that life doesn't always go the way we want it to.

I felt horrible for Toby, everyone saw him as this weird loner and couldn't possibly bring themselves to believe that a soldier with PTSD just wants to be left alone and that soldiers with PTSD don't always snap and kill people.

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable read. ( )