Review: Artie and the Wolf Moon

Story Thus far:

Artie and the Wolf Moon is about a young teen girl named Artemis, or Artie for short. She’s a great kid, her mother lovers her, and her teachers respect her love for photography. The only thing that stands in her way are the school bullies. Things are okay, until one night during the Full-moon she meets an actual Were-wolf. Artie now stuck in between the awkwardness of three worlds: Human, Werewolf , and Vampire, must now navigate those worlds, changing her life forever.

Art:

It doesn’t have its own style, or voice, if you are on the outside of the Black community. African American children who have been looking for something that reflects them and will find their experience well represented here. I love how each of the panels captured the small details of black life.

Script:

Sure, there are plenty of books aimed at monster folklore books aimed at the CAYA crowd, but this one feel different because the diversity demonstrated here was integral to the story. Its stands up as a good intro for young adults into the folklore of werewolves. Heck, it even stands up as a goo metaphor on what it means to become a teenager.

The sociological subtext is exquisite. It changes up some previous ideas about werewolves. I love the implied analogy that “it takes a village” and how it was implied here. The strength of the story stands on the strength and realistic background of the main character.

Speculation:

Let’s face it, Hollywood would be too scared to pick up something like Artie and the Wolf Moon, so this would strictly be a great reader, unless Olivia Stephenson decides to develop the world out into more books.

SCORE: 4 Stars out of 5

Author, Artist, Colorist, Letterer: Olivia Stephens

GENRE: Horror, Comedy, Fantasy, CYAC, Werewolves -Fiction, Vampires -Fiction

Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group