World War II is going on, but in rural Pennsylvania
things are pretty peaceful for eleven-year-old Annabelle and her family. She
lives on a large farm in Wolf Hollow with her grandparents, parents, and two
little brothers. She spends her weekdays in school sitting next to her best
friend, Ruth, and weekends are spent doing chores on the farm and going to
church. There is a vagabond named Toby who wanders the town and did make Annabelle
uneasy, but she came to see that he was harmless and mostly kept to himself. Plus,
her mom explained that Toby had gone through a lot during the first world war
and he might be a little sad. When Betty Glengarry comes to stay with her
grandparents, things change for Annabelle. Betty turns out to be mean. She
wants Annabelle to give her money and other objects. Betty bullies kids in
class- both boys and girls. With a cruel glint in her eye she harms an innocent
animal in front of Annabelle, only to later deny it. Things with Betty continue
to escalate until the day she goes missing. The people in town believe
Toby must’ve taken her. After all, Betty had just blamed Toby for two terrible
deeds that had hurt children in the town. Annabelle believes Betty is the
culprit and her heart tells her Toby is innocent. She vows to help him if she
can. When the police and neighbors are out searching for Betty, Annabelle goes looking
for Toby. What will happen if she finds him? Is he safe to be around? What
happened to Betty? Will the townspeople ever believe that Toby is innocent or
will they continue to presume he is guilty because he has strange ways about
him. You will have to read this book to find out!
I had heard a lot of wonderful things about Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk, but I had no
idea what the book was about. It did not disappoint! I really enjoyed the main
character, Annabelle, because I could easily relate to her. She wanted to do
the right thing, and she has a very big heart. Every time she told a lie I
could tell she wanted to tell the truth, but the lie was necessary. I was so
worried when Betty came to town and started bullying Annabelle. I was proud of
her when she did the best she could to stand up to Betty. I liked the way the
author describes the farm and the woods in the book because I felt like I was
there. Also, giving the reader the background that the name Wolf Hollow came
from a time when there was an over abundance of wolves in the area and bad
things came because of it helped set the stage for the book (don’t want to spoil
anything). I recommend this to people ages
9 and up who enjoy historical fiction and for those who root for what is right.
I know underdogs pull at my heart and if they tugs at yours then you will turn
the pages just as quickly as I did. This book makes readers think about how we
treat people and the judgments that are made based on the way someone looks. I
look forward to reading another book by this author soon.
Has anyone else read Wolf Hollow? Or have you read another book by Lauren Wolk? We’d
love to hear your thoughts.
Happy
Reading!
~L
