This Is Not A Werewolf Story

A fresh, heartwarming, and fascinating debut that two-time Newberry Honor winner Gary Schmidt calls “a journey that every reader needs to go on.”

This is the story of Raul, a boy of few words, fewer friends, and almost no family. He is a loner—but he isn’t lonely. All week long he looks after the younger boys at One Of Our Kind Boarding School while dodging the barbs of terrible Tuffman, the jerk of a gym teacher.

Like every other kid in the world, he longs for Fridays, but not for the usual reasons. As soon as the other students go home for the weekend, Raul makes his way to a lighthouse deep in the heart of the woods. There he waits for sunset—and the mysterious, marvelous phenomenon that allows him to go home, too.

But the woods have secrets . . . and so does Raul. When a new kid arrives at school, they may not stay secret for long.

Reviews

From School Library Journal:

“ Heartfelt, enigmatic, and ethereal, Evans’s excellent debut novel takes readers on a roller coaster of emotion and keeps them guessing the whole way through. Based in part on the 12th-century French work Bisclavret, this is a modern story with a fairy-tale atmosphere.
VERDICT:
Fans of mystery and fantasy will enjoy this unique yet familiar selection. ”

A Booklist starred review:

“ A cut above.”

Publisher’s Weekly:

“ Mystery and suspense abound in Evans's debut novel, which draws inspiration and depth from Pacific Northwest folklore. Raul is an insightful, introspective youth, and Evans weaves a compelling story from his point of view, bolstered by a strong supporting cast.”

Two-time Newberry Honor-winning Gary Schmidt wrote:

“ This is a novel about commitments, and about mystery, and about our deepest identities--which is to say, this is a novel about love. In trying to discover who he is--a boy, a wolf, a kid in love, a kid betrayed, a newcomer to a community marked by magical transformation, a hero who errs--Raul finds that the greatest discoveries are those of the heart, human and otherwise. It is a journey that every reader needs to go on, and how splendid to find a book that gives such companions to walk with along the way.”

From Stuart Gibbs (best-selling author of the Spy School series and the Fun Jungle series):

“ This Is Not a Werewolf Story is true to its name. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read before: an intelligent, imaginative, and moving tale, steeped in teenage angst and Native American mythology, full of clever twists and surprises.”