A fast-paced story just spooky enough for middle-grade readers, with an intriguing magic system and engaging characters, The Devouring Wolf also has a lot of queer representation. Twelve-year-old Riley Callahan is excited that the first full moon of summer is here, when she will for the first time turn into a wolf like her two moms and the rest of her werewolf community. At the moment that the shift should happen, however, Riley and four friends don’t transform. Even the adults in the community don’t know why, but they are distracted by an outside threat. The five friends, who are just starting to learn the various magics within their world, must seek answers on their own, answers that seem tangled with mysterious growls they hear. They gradually become convinced that the old campfire tale of the Devouring Wolf is true, and that this creature of legend is back to steal wolf magic. The adults don’t believe them, though, not even Riley’s Mama C, one of the community’s leaders. Can the friends figure out how to work together and stop the Wolf on their own? And will Riley overcome her insecurities to learn what it means to be a leader herself?
The book is effortlessly queer in multiple ways, not only because of Riley’s moms. Riley’s older sister Darcy is trans, one other kid is nonbinary, and another was raised by two uncles, presumably a couple. Riley herself seems to be developing a crush on another girl. None of these identities drives the plot, but nor are they ignored. In one scene, a kid assumes she knows everyone’s pronouns, only to learn that the nonbinary kid now uses they/them. Riley notes her nonbinary friend’s discomfort at the assumption, and connects it to the discomfort she saw in her sister when someone misgendered her. In another scene, Darcy speaks to Riley after Riley doesn’t shift and observes, “It’s hard to feel like you can’t control parts of your body. But the transformation isn’t what makes you a wolf. You do that with or without magic.” Author Natalie C. Parker doesn’t explicitly connect that to Darcy’s experience as a trans person, but it’s hard not to see an echo there.
A thoroughly enjoyable read. Spend more time with the characters and this intriguing world of magical realism in the sequel, The Nameless Witch.
Riley, her moms, and brother are White; two of the other five children (one of whom is Riley’s cousin) are people of color. (One is biracial (Black/White) and the other likely Black or Latina.)
