Wolfpack

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY APR 17, 2023

Brunskill (The Window) employs absorbing verse and a keen grasp on the teen voice in this stirring psychological thriller about nine teenage girls raised in a cult. Havenwood is supposed to be just that—a haven for those devoted to charming and kind leader Joseph and his teachings. Despite having grown up at Havenwood, when nine young women are forced together by happenstance, they endeavor to "be loyal/ not just to Havenwood/ but also to one another," establishing an unwavering bond that guides them through conflicts both interpersonal and within Havenwood's strident society. Alongside their individual public passions, such as apiculture, baking, and foraging, the girls embark on private endeavors. Some of these ventures, including a sexually intimate relationship between two of the teens, are forbidden in Havenwood. When one of them goes missing, the others search for her and, in doing so, begin to unearth the corrupted underpinnings of their perceived utopia. Though the characters are minimally described, intricately detailed alternating third-person POVs that center individual perspectives as well as a lush, collective voice spin an eerie recounting that fluidly connects familiar themes of maturation, love, and chosen family with Havenwood's unusual, highly insular religious movement. Ages 14–up.