Wolf Shadows

At 12, Seth Jacobson is a boy's boy, a hunter, an outdoorsman, the home-schooled stepson of the local game warden. Matt, a year older, struggles to maintain his ascendancy over his best friend on the masculinity ladder. Set in the Minnesota north woods, rich with details of a frozen, unforgiving wilderness, this sequel to MOOSE TRACKS tells the story of a hunt gone wrong and a friendship threatened by ethical issues. Who better than Johnny Heller to deliver the authentic voices of male adolescents in conflict, vying for power, searching for truth, longing for connection? Heller captures Seth's internal musings and his battle against his own conflicting desires in his characteristic slow and easy narration. He nails both the banter and fury between Seth and Matt. Only the local adults, sounding more like East Coast Italians than long-voweled Minnesotans, fail to ring true. Nevertheless, middle graders, especially fans of MOOSE TRACKS, will love this one. T.B. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine