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Claire de Lune / Christine Johnson.
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Reviews
Booklist Reviews 2010 May #2
On their sixteenth birthdays, the women in Claire's family begin a three-month transformation into werewolves—a secret kept from the girls until they turn 16. Beginning with Claire's suburban birthday party—which is abruptly broken up by a werewolf attack in another part of town, causing panicked parents to demand that their teens get home at once—Johnson spins out an engaging and provocative riff on the werewolf tradition. Are they intrinsically antihuman? Bloodthirsty? Due the same respect other animals should receive in laboratory situations? Those questions are underscored by a romance between Claire and Matthew, the son of the prime public-hysteria-provoking werewolf hunter. Smooth writing and engaging main characters make for an easy read, while a feminist focus offers just a bit more for thoughtful readers. The red herrings aren't particularly deluding, but bypassing them doesn't frustrate either. A good summer read for the romantically concerned and monster-obsessed midteen girl. Copyright 2009 Booklist Reviews.
Horn Book Guide Reviews 2010 Fall
Claire learns she is a werewolf just as a rogue wolf stalks her town. Meanwhile, her new boyfriend's father leads the crusade to exterminate the wolves. Claire's loyalties are torn between her pack and her boyfriend, her wolf instincts and her desire to be normal. Even pacing and consistent fantasy logic make the book a solid choice for fans of supernatural romance. Copyright 2010 Horn Book Guide Reviews.
PW Reviews 2010 April #4
Johnson's debut—her take on the popular werewolf lit genre—glimmers with mystery and a budding romance amid Romeo and Juliet–like complications. Claire is finally starting to feel like a normal teenager. It's her 16th birthday, popular kids have shown up at her pool party, and wicked cute Matthew seems to like her. Then Claire discovers the family secret—she and her mother are werewolves. It's an especially inopportune revelation, since a rogue werewolf is killing people in town and Matthew's father, a member of the Federal Human Protection Agency, is leading the charge to capture and "cure" lycanthropes. Claire's feelings for Matthew are too strong for her to obey her mother's order to stop seeing him, and her secrets keep piling up as her full transformation approaches. With Claire's local pack on the hunt for the rogue and an innocent werewolf in danger, things accelerate quickly as the next full moon approaches. Claire's supportive relationship with Matthew is downright enviable, and her struggle to adjust and integrate the two sides of her life rounds out a satisfying story. Ages 12–up. (May)
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