Wolf by Wolf

Starred review from August 3, 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.

July 15, 2015
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)

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August 1, 2015

Gr 8 Up-What if Hitler and the Axis powers had won World War II? Part alternative history, part spy novel, and part coming-of-age tale, this work is most of all the story of Ya-el, a young woman who escaped the horrors of a concentration camp but could not escape being changed forever by Nazi experimentation. Ya-el is a shape-shifter, assuming other people's appearances with ease. As a resistance fighter, Ya-el is given a critical mission: assume the identity of motorcycle racing champion Adele Wolf and compete in the Axis Tour. She must win the race and assassinate Hitler at the victory dance. However, she doesn't count on Felix, Adele's brother, accompanying her. Ya-el struggles against the grueling race course, her competitors, and the nightmares of her past as she seeks to win the race and set off a revolution. Can Ya-el keep the secret of her true identity? And how did she develop the abilities that enable her deadly mission? These questions are answered by flashbacks interspersed throughout. While potentially confusing, the chronological shifts are well-integrated. Graudin's prose is artful and addictive. The ending feels rushed, crying out for the likely sequel. VERDICT Recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction with a dose of fantastical science.-Kelly Kingrey-Edwards, Mirus Academy Library, TX

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 Inmate 121358?X. That's the designation Yael was given in a concentration camp as a child. She still has those numbers, but Experiment 85 also gave her shape-shifting abilitiesand a powerful desire to seek revenge on the Fuhrer. In an effort to both remember and forget her horrid past, Yael works for the Resistance and gets wolves tattooed up and down her arm for the people she has lost. When she has a solid chance to kill Hitler during a cross-continent race, she shifts into the shape of famed motorcycle racer Adele Wolf as a disguise, but when Adele's brother and her former lover join the race, Yael's mission is made ever harder. Can one girl, even one with the face of many, prevail over the Third Reich? 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)