Extra Credit: Blood and Chocolate

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Citation:

Curtis Klause, Annette. Blood and Chocolate. New York: Bantam Double Day Dell Books, 1997. Print.

Annotation:

Werewolf Vivian is 16 years old. She has come to a new town with her pack to get a fresh start. The pack had to blaze trails out of the old town. A human murder and retaliation killed the pack leader and a couple other members. Now the pack is in disarray with no leader and internal power struggles.

Nomination Justification:

There’s a lot going on in this book! I needed to write down character cheat sheets to keep everyone straight. The book keeps on a good pace and plot with the pages turning pretty fast. Vivian’s father was the pack leader. The pack above all else protects itself even against its own who might betray their secret. No human is to know they are shape changers. A young werewolf teen puts the pack at risk by killing a human girl and is put in jail. These events lead to the pack leader’s death and a couple other members. Vivian ends up in a new school and is reserved  and quiet after all that has happened. YA can easily relate to being in a new school and having to make friends or be a misfit. Things get complicated when against the rules of the pack, she falls in love with a human boy. The pack’s new leader takes love interest in her while her mother and another werewolf take interest in being his mate. Once again, YA will have an easy time seeing how her mother and her attitudes don’t exactly mesh. Vivian wrestles with coming out to her human love interest and it all goes badly. The point is she took a chance that it was better to be open and true than hide who she is. Even though it didn’t work out for her, YA can still connect to how it feels to have expectations fall short and then realize that who the friends really are. Throughout the book, loyalty, betrayal, love and honor are strong themes. The author creates a story that many YA will enjoy as they too explore what it means to belong and be part of a pack... or family and friends.

Genre: Supernatural, Romance, Coming of Age