“Hey, Artie.”

From Olivia Stephens’ Artie and the Wolf Moon.

There are few things that eighth grader Artie loves more that practicing her photography with her dad’s old camera. Ever since her dad died, it’s just been Artie and her mom, a busy park ranger. Aerie’s quiet life is quickly shattered though when she sneaks out of the house after her curfew to photograph the full moon and she runs into a wolf in the forest. Racing back home to safety, Artie is terrified to see the wolf has followed her home, but when the wolf changes shape and shifts back into her mom, Artie is speechless. Unable to hide her secret any more, Artie’s mom tells her that she is descended from a long line of werewolves, but Artie may not become one because of her human father. A little while later though, when a group of bullies attack Artie after school, she escapes and transforms into a wolf. While Artie is glad to know she’s a werewolf, lessons with her mom soon prove very difficult as Artie is unable to shift again fully. Reaching out to old family friends for help, Artie’s mom begins to share more details about the past and the deadly danger that werewolves face daily: vampires. Struggling to deal with all the new information and challenges that make up her life now, Artie must decide who she can trust and what kind of werewolf she wants to be.

An interesting story line with both some suspense and action, this graphic novel is not without some struggles, unfortunately. The main character is often unnecessarily moody which distracts from the story’s development and the artwork doesn’t always convey the action scenes well. However, fans of gritty fantasy will find Artie and the Wolf Moon to be an interesting read.