by Maggie Stiefvater
ages: 14+
First sentence: “This is the story of a boy who used to be a wolf and a girl who was becoming one.”
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Linger picks up where Shiver left off (so if you’re one of the few people on this planet who’ve not read that, then be forewarned, there’s no getting around spoilers): Sam and Grace are an item, since it seems Sam has been cured of werewolfism. Or so they think. As winter slowly turns into spring, Grace is sick for the first time in her life. Her parents have (finally, however unbelievably) decided to be parents, and are clamping down on their relationship. And, in order to complicate things, the new wolf that Beck turned last winter, Cole, is adding his own problems, especially considering that he used to be the famous, yet self-destructive, lead-singer of the hip band, NARKOTIKA.

Told in the same evocative prose as her first book, Steifvater takes us to some of the same places that Shiver did. But not always with the same results. Falling in love is always more interesting than being in love, and for that reason Sam and Grace felt stale, while Cole and the attraction he holds for Isabel took front-and-center in my book. It really didn’t matter that both characters were very unlikable; their attraction was immediate and one of those destined to destruction. It was fascinating to watch. Granted, Cole is also brilliant, and may have figured out the trick with the whole werewolf thing. That always helps any relationship, I think.

I didn’t find it as compelling as Shiver, but it was still good. Stiefvater knows how to turn a phrase, a way to evoke a setting that makes you believe you are there. (Someday, books will come with smells and tastes, too.) And for that (and because it’s the next book in the trilogy), it’s worth reading.