Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Stiefvater, Maggie. (2009). Shiver. NY: Scholastic Press.
ISBN: 978-0545123266
Awards: Amazon's Best Books of the Year (2009)
Amazon's Best Books of the Month (August 2009)
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2010)
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (2010)
Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: Love, Independence, Determination
Genre: Fantasy
Annotation: Attacked by wolves as a child, Grace survives because one wolf, her wolf, saves her. Since then, Grace watches for her wolf who comes to the edge of the woods and watches her. And then there is Sam, who fearfully waits for the cold.
Summary: Grace has been fascinated with wolves ever since she was attacked by them as a small child. What she remembers is being saved by a wolf with yellow eyes; a wolf who continues to watch her from the edge of the woods. Grace feels an inexplicable bond with "her" wolf, because she is sure it is the same wolf that saved her all those years ago. Then, when a classmate is killed by wolves the townsfolk decide to hunt them down. Grace hears of the plan and runs fearlessly into the woods to save the wolves and especially her wolf that she loves so much. Shots are fired, but what Grace finds is not a wounded wolf, but a naked boy. A boy with yellow eyes.
The story alternates between Grace and Sam, who readers know is a werewolf. The werewolves are slaves to the weather and change into their animal form in cold weather-hence the title of the book. Sam is the wolf that saved Grace and watched her ever since. Now, Grace saves Sam and hides him in her room where they fall in love. They both know the cold will return and with it Sam's animal form, but this time it might be forever. Sam and Grace fight to keep Sam in human form.
Evaluation: As far as paranormal romances go, this is a good one. Grace and Sam have a deep and undeniable bond that reaches beyond human or wolf form. Characters are well written and developed, and secondary plot lines keep the story interesting and moving along. I read this book because I kept seeing it appear on lists with lots of stars at the end. Also, I love a good fantasy YA book!