Shiver

Stiefvater, M.  (2009).  Shiver.  New York, NY:  Scholastic Press.  When Grace was a young girl, she was dragged into the woods by wolves and is attacked, but Sam intervenes.  Sam is a werewolf that is in his canine form in the winter months, but turns human in the summer.  When his family found out what he was, they tried to kill him, and the rejection hurt him.   He wants to be more human than wolf and wants to find a way to stay human.  Grace’s parents are present, but seem to ignore her.  One day, a boy Jack is mauled by a pack of wolves and his father decides to hunt them all down.  Sam is shot in the neck and goes to Grace for help.  She takes him to the hospital, and they leave as soon as his wound heals to avoid suspicions.  Jack discovers that Grace did not turn into a wolf when she was younger because she had some king of fever.  Sam and Jack decide that they will inject themselves with meningitis to see if that would keep them from turning into wolves.  Jack and Sam take the shot, but Jack dies soon after.  Olivia, Jack’s sister, decides she will stay as a wolf.  Sam, at first, has complications, but then turns back into a human.  I am a great fan of lycanthrope literature, and think this has a great plot.  I think a teacher could use this book to teach the 7^th grade Reading TEKS 6C on point of view because the author writes the name of the character that is telling the story.  In this style of writing, the author shows a limited perspective of each character.  In other words, when we see the story through Grace, she cannot see what Sam is thinking, and it is the same for him.