Read this in slow time w/younger son. We had a lot of fun with it and enjoyed the characters, but in part in it was because of amused exasperation with the hero's over-the-top references to his own special powers and uniqueness. He's familiar with Russian street slang? Of course he is. Bestest-best at martial arts? Goes without saying. Keen, keen senses? You didn't expect any less, did you? Sometimes too, the author's teacherly mode overwhelms the protagonist's voice, as he tells us about, say, old films or 1980s music. But it's a fun story all the same, and all the characters are very likable. Plus, it's great to have an Abenaki superhero kid as a protagonist, just saying. It's from Tu Publications, which is an imprint devoted to diversity in YA fiction.

Edited to add--prompted by Hallie's hitting "like" for the review (thanks Hallie!)--that another really great thing about the book was the warm, unsnarky, yet unsugary relationship between Luke and his friends and his father. These relationships felt genuine and strong, and there was plenty of friendly humor (in the relationships with his friends). Especially sweet that although Luke daydreamed about being alone with the girl he liked (and who liked him), sex never played a role in the tale. Not that I've got anything against depictions of teenagers having sex (I don't), but it's nice to read an exciting adventure that *doesn'* feature it. ( )

Read this in slow time w/younger son. We had a lot of fun with it and enjoyed the characters, but in part in it was because of amused exasperation with the hero's over-the-top references to his own special powers and uniqueness. He's familiar with Russian street slang? Of course he is. Bestest-best at martial arts? Goes without saying. Keen, keen senses? You didn't expect any less, did you? Sometimes too, the author's teacherly mode overwhelms the protagonist's voice, as he tells us about, say, old films or 1980s music. But it's a fun story all the same, and all the characters are very likable. Plus, it's great to have an Abenaki superhero kid as a protagonist, just saying. It's from Tu Publications, which is an imprint devoted to diversity in YA fiction.

Edited to add--prompted by Hallie's hitting "like" for the review (thanks Hallie!)--that another really great thing about the book was the warm, unsnarky, yet unsugary relationship between Luke and his friends and his father. These relationships felt genuine and strong, and there was plenty of friendly humor (in the relationships with his friends). Especially sweet that although Luke daydreamed about being alone with the girl he liked (and who liked him), sex never played a role in the tale. Not that I've got anything against depictions of teenagers having sex (I don't), but it's nice to read an exciting adventure that *doesn'* feature it. ( )

I received a copy of this galley, free, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Somehow this book got lost in the Netgalley pile (and the review was lost in the pile of written but not posted reviews). Regardless, I was drawn to this book. I visited Tu Books’ website (a family owned publishing company that believes and promotes diversity in science fiction and fantasy for young adults) ( )

http://purplemoonmyst.blogspot.com/2011/08/review-wolf-mark.html ( )

YA in which the super-well-trained loner finds out that he and his family have a secret—one that might get him (and the girl on whom he’s crushing) killed. Spoiler: wolfish natures are involved. I don’t mind telling instead of showing in YA, but this was so repetitive that the drama was sucked out of it for me, plus Luke was a bit overpowered—yes, I believe a teenager would angst like this despite being smarter and faster &tc. than his challengers, but I got bored by my own angst and didn’t do much better with his. ( )