I liked this book. I think it had some really important lessons about telling the truth and not judging a book by its cover. There was a lot of foreshadowing in this book which made me kind of anxious as I read it. The end was sad, but not entirely unexpected. A good tale to remind children to give people a chance before you judge them. Not everything is the way that it seems.

My fifth grade (accelerated class in public school) granddaughter recommended this to me and I'm glad she did. Wolf Hollow involves themes of severe bullying behavior by Betty, a new girl in school who obviously has some serious issues. She is staying with relatives and she does things to Annabeth MacBride and her little brothers that are physically and emotionally harmful. They are terrified to tell because she threatens worse. Tobias lives in a small outbuilding on Annabeth's farm. He is a WWI veteran, odd, a loner, not much of a talker. He is treated by the town as addled and problematic and when Betty starts to tell lies about him, the town rises up against him.

A lovely part of Wolf Hollow is that Tobias find some peace and is able to express himself because of something the MacBride children let him borrow. Their mother sends him food. Their family respects his needs and care about him. Except, perhaps for Annabeth's Aunt Lily who is biased and unkind regarding Toby. Overtime, we learn how people can make mistakes that cause serious harm by believing the wrong people and letting their prejudices take the lead. Some have suggested that a book for MA readers should only have happy endings. I'd say most of them and certainly I disagree. Because the truth is that there cannot always be happy endings. But along the way, we learn a lot about caring for one another, for family, for the friends that aren't all conventional. This is a rich, beautifully written book and I would recommend it to any mature child reading at this level.

I wouldn’t have picked this one up if it weren’t for book club. It was better than I thought it would be. The writing was solid, the characters were well developed, I liked the perspective of the 11 year old girl. Just genuinely liked her. The story was all fairly simple, but with a lot of complicated emotions at the same time. Very quick to read.

Annabel is a mature young lady who experiences an array of unfortunate circumstances. The new girl at school, Betty, bullies Annabel and threatens her brothers. Toby, a distant but kindly family friend, also a war veteran, watches over Annabel from afar. Soon Toby becomes a victim to attacks from Betty; being blamed for an accident that left Annabel's friend Ruth blind and later for Betty's disappearance. How will Annabel prove to the community that Toby is the kind hearted soul she knows and not the cruel monster the town creates in his image? I laughed, I cried, overall amazing book.

Wow. I haven't read a kids book this complicated and moving and hard and moving in a really long time. Elements of this reminded me so much of how, Where the Red Fern Grows, touched me as a kid. Beautiful prose.

I would highly recommend this book for upper elementary/middle school kiddos, but also for teachers who are looking for a book that so sincerely covers the impact of bulling.

Amazing!!

My daughter read this out loud to us, and we all enjoyed it. A story of unlikely friendship, and preconceived impressions of a person, and how they can change events. Some difficult content for younger readers, although my kids were fine with it, more sensitive kids may not enjoy some parts.

We have a book club set of this one. Set between world war 1 and 2 in rural Pennsylvania, Annabelle lives with her brothers, grandparents and Aunt in a comfortable farm house. Toby lives nearby in an abandoned smoke home, traumatized from WW1 he befriends Annabelle and is her protector from the school bully Betty. This makes him her target and sets out to ruin Toby.

I enjoyed the story and I think students could connect to the injustice. There are some complex characters and lots to think about. Middle grade but would work nicely as a grade 9 option. Not too long or complex, but some background about WW1 would be helpful and the themes of kindness, forgiveness,and taking the time to fist try to understand before passing judgement are universal.

The author delves into some dark territory in this novel. I’d recommended it for emotionally mature children, probably 10+