Summer of the Wolves by Lisa Williams Kline - Review

Title: Summer of the Wolves (Sisters in All Seasons)

Author: Lisa Williams Kline

Publisher: Zonderkids

Release Date: April 23, 2012

Synopsis: Stepsisters, yes. Friends? Maybe ... 'I smelled the wolf now---sharp and musky. I scanned the pen and saw a shadow behind one of the bushes that might be another wolf. Probably two of the most miserable looking creatures I'd ever seen.' --from Summer of the Wolves Stephanie and Diana are having a hard time adjusting to life as new stepsisters. The girls 'pretend' to like each other, but it's pretty hard considering they are complete opposites. When their new family takes their first-ever vacation to a horse ranch in North Carolina, not even long horse-back rides in the forest can tame their tempers. Diana's anger issues and Stephanie's fear of everything prove disastrous, until Diana discovers the caged wolves in the deep woods. She vows to free them, and surprisingly, Stephanie agrees to help. But their actions have unforeseen consequences, and if there's any chance to make things right, Stephanie and Diana must put their differences aside. From Amazon.

My Thoughts: I was first completely interested in this book because of the wolves. I quickly realized that this book is so much more. Kline did a wonderful job of showing the difficulties in merging families. 

I loved both Stephanie and Diana. There is no way I could pick one as a favorite because they were both appealing characters in different ways. I enjoyed Diana's love of animals so much. She may have had her issues but she was amazing with the animals. Stephanie was just so sweet. She tried hard to be friendly with everyone and to please people. She may have been scared but she really persevered. I think both girls grew so much in this book. 

The struggle of these two families coming together was so realistic. I think that Kline hit on some very real issues for children in these situations. She showed the fears and insecurities well, and then helped to show resolutions to these problems.

To me the animals were very important in this book. The wolves played a very important role. The girls first bonded while helping the wolves and then bonded further while trying to fix their mistake of releasing the wolves. The horses really helped both girls, too. While Copper helped Diana to be calmer, Sam eventually helped to ease some of Stephanie's fears.

This was such a wonderful book. The horse ranch was beautifully written and full of interesting characters. The adventures the girls had were fun to read, and kept me wanting more. I will be very excited to read the second book in the Sisters in All Seasons series. 

Rating:

If you would like to pre-order your own copy of Summer of the Wolves by Lisa Williams Kline, you can do so on Amazon.

I requested and received this book on NetGalley. No review was required in exchange for the e-copy I received. All thoughts and opinions in this review are 100% my own.