Teen Fiction - Horror & Suspense

Raised by Wolves

Name: Raised by Wolves
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
ISBN: 9781606842119

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Overview

At the age of four, Bryn watched a rogue werewolf brutally murder her parents. Alone in the world, she was rescued and taken in by the mysterious Callum, the alpha of his werewolf pack. Now fifteen, Bryn’s been raised as a human among werewolves, adhering to pack rule (mostly). Little fazes her.

But the pack’s been keeping a secret, and when Bryn goes exploring against Callum’s direct orders, she finds Chase, a newly turned teen Were locked in a cage. Terrifying memories of the attack on her mom and dad come flooding back. Bryn needs answers, and she needs Chase to get them. Suddenly, all allegiances to the pack no longer matter. It’s Bryn and Chase against the werewolf world, whatever the consequences.

An exciting new paranormal adventure, with a heroine who rivals Buffy, Raised by Wolves will leave you howling for more.

He’s in a cage, I reminded myself, but the words meant nothing to me, because I just couldn’t stop staring into his wild eyes and playing the last words he’d said before he Shifted, over and over again.
I got bit.
I got bit.
I got bit.

Synopsis

Adopted by the Alpha of a werewolf pack after a rogue wolf brutally killed her parents right before her eyes, fifteen-year-old Bryn knows only pack life, and the rigid social hierarchy that controls it. That doesn't mean that she's averse to breaking a rule or two.

But when her curiosity gets the better of her and she discovers Chase, a new teen locked in a cage in her guardian's basement, and witnesses him turn into a wolf before her eyes, the horrific memories of her parents' murders return. Bryn becomes obsessed with getting her questions answered, and Chase is the only one who can provide the information she needs.

But in her drive to find the truth, will Bryn push too far beyond the constraints of the pack, forcing her to leave behind her friends, her family, and the identity that she's shaped?

Publishers Weekly

The paranormal craze has given readers several interpretations of the werewolf myth, but with a gift for thoughtful detail, Barnes (Fate) presents a fresh and fully realized world in which werewolves and humans coexist. Narrator Bryn, 15, has straddled the line between wolf and human for nearly her whole life, marked as a member of the pack at age four when her parents were murdered by a rogue Were--a Rabid. Callum, the pack's alpha, has been Bryn's hero and father figure ever since, but it's becoming clear that he has also been keeping secrets. When Bryn discovers Chase locked in Callum's basement--a human who's been turned Were, not born one like the other wolves she knows--a cascade of revelations follow, upending Bryn's secure world ("Books and movies would have me believing that any little scratch or bite could turn someone into a werewolf, but thousands of years of werewolf history said they were wrong"). Bryn's voice is sarcastic, exasperated, frightened, insightful, and tender by turns, and Barnes rarely lets her take easy outs, making for an exceptionally taut read. Ages 12-up. (June)

About the Author, Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Jennifer Lynn Barnes was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has been a competitive cheerleader, a volleyball player, a dancer, a debutante, a primate-cognition researcher, a teen model, a comic-book geek, and a lemur aficionado. She's been writing for as long as she can remember, and wrote her first novel, Golden, when she was nineteen.

Jen graduated from Yale University with a degree in cognitive science 2006, and spent a year doing autism research at the University of Cambridge. She is currently continuing her graduate studies at Yale. Visit her online at www.jenniferlynnbarnes.com.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Melanie Hundley

Brynn's parents were killed by a rogue werewolf when she was four. She was adopted by Callum, the alpha of a werewolf pack. Her life has been one of rules and strict expectations. At 15, she pushes at the boundaries but doesn't go too far over the line. Brynn goes exploring, even though she was told explicitly not to do so, and finds Chase, a newly-turned teen werewolf locked in a cage. She sees him shift, and it brings back memories of her parents' murder. Brynn and Chase become close and find themselves struggling to find answers to questions. Their search for those answers challenges the very rigid pack hierarchy. Brynn no longer knows who to trust. Where will the search for answers take them? And, what does Chase mean when he says, "I got bit"? Reviewer: Melanie Hundley

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—For 15-year-old Bryn Clare, life has been anything but normal. At the age of four she witnesses her parents' gruesome murder by a rogue werewolf. Taken in and marked by the alpha male, Callum, she and her foster mother, Ali, are the only two humans accepted and protected by them. Even though she enjoys the connection to the pack, Bryn's human need to set herself apart and be independent has labeled her a rebel—something unheard of in the strict hierarchy of werewolf society. Her loyalty to Callum and the pack is put to the test with the discovery of newly turned werewolf named Chase. Bryn can not deny the bond she feels with him and begins to uncover information that sets off a chain reaction of events, changing her life forever. Barnes weaves a fantastic story line full of great plot twists and turns with a little romance sprinkled in. Revealing key pieces of the plot in bits and pieces allows the story to move quickly and effortlessly. Readers will definitely respond to gutsy Bryn, who, in being true to herself, must fight for her place in the world. A great read and a must-have for libraries with fans of the supernatural.—Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY

Kirkus Reviews

Bryn, 15, lives between worlds. Born human, she lost her parents in a werewolf attack when she was four. The werewolves, or Weres, who rescued her raised her as their own. Though she doesn't change into a wolf as her peers do, she is still subject to the Pack's rules of dominance and submission. Then Bryn discovers an important Pack secret: They're hiding Chase, a boy her age who survived a usually lethal werewolf bite and was turned into a werewolf. Bryn and Chase bond almost instantly, and Bryn is sure that Chase holds the key to identifying the Were who killed her parents. There are some holes in Bryn's narration of her own supernatural, wolfish abilities, which makes it difficult to understand how she relates to the rest of the pack. The pacing is very slow at the beginning, with most of the important action crammed into the last 75 pages. Despite these shortcomings, the mysteries of Bryn's identity should keep readers hooked, and there's plenty to discuss in terms of gender roles and Pack politics. (Paranormal. YA)