"Just like The Wanderers, I found The Pack to be a real roller-coaster ride, tautly plotted and with a denouement that took my breath away. The settings were atmospheric and vivid; I loved meeting new characters as well as seeing some familiar faces, and I thought the Laughing Girls in particular were brilliantly depicted—they sent chills down my spine! The nail-biting story, coupled with Kate's wonderfully readable style of writing, makes The Pack a page-turning and memorable read. I can't wait to add it to my bookshelf and I wish it all the success it so richly deserves." —Emma Pass, author of Acid and The Fearless
“Balancing basic survival needs and security with belonging and relationships are clear themes in this action-packed fantasy. Flo’s first-person narrative is compelling, drawing the reader into her world, as well as revealing her emotions and thoughts. . . . Readers will find this new and exciting tale hard to put down.” —VOYA
Praise for The Wanderers
"Flo and her friends are but poor, lost circus performers—who shape-shift into animals and try to evade governmental capture. Newly turned 16, orphaned shifter Flo is dreading her first circus performance. Alas for her, it's not optional; all of the shifter children who live with the circus must perform regularly as soon as they reach that age. Flo must take a turn like all the others, so after a false start, she takes the stage—not as a girl but as a magnificent mare. Like her boyfriend, Jett the bear, or her nemesis, Pru the tiger, Flo becomes an animal at will. In a modern world of cars and DVD players, the circus shifters live almost medievally, bound under the unkind leadership of the elders, three middle-aged lion shifters. Flo knows that if she leaves, she'll be vulnerable to hunters, government-funded paramilitary forces that are the modern legacy of sworn enemies who have been murdering shifters since time immemorial. So she tolerates the cruelty of her peers, learns to jump through a flaming hoop, and almost has hope for the future when disaster strikes. In a spare first-person, present-tense narration, Flo takes readers through a swoony romance with a massive body count. Despite the potential whimsy of a circus adventure narrated by a shape-shifting mare, this more closely resembles a brutal, angst-drenched dystopia à la Veronica Roth's Divergent (2011) than anything else. (Fantasy. 13-15)" —Kirkus Reviews
“The preternatural circus of shifters, budding young romance, and action-packed struggle against evil will appeal to readers of paranormal fiction.” —School Library Journal
“The world of shape-shifting characters has just gotten wider with the addition of this novel . . . Fans of supernatural series like Shiver will enjoy this book, with its similar themes and strong love story.” —VOYA Magazine
"Filled with excitement and whimsy, The Wanderers is an adventure story about shape-shifters, first love, and the endless search for a true home." —Suzanne Young, New York Times–bestselling author of The Program
"The Wanderers is a dark, rich, and original story. I love the concept of humans with inherent shape-shifting abilities, and the circus setting is incredibly vivid—I could smell the musty, musky ring, feel the bright lights burning my skin. Kate has created an intricate and danger filled world that's both cruel and beautiful." —Melinda Salisbury, author of The Sin Eater’s Daughter
"An utterly captivating big-top world filled with shape-shifters and dark secrets. I devoured this book! It was unlike anything I’ve ever read." —Amy Christine Parker, author of Gated and Astray
"A fresh tale about shape-shifters that is sure to delight and astound." —Danielle L. Jensen, author of Stolen Songbird
"Just like The Wanderers, I found The Pack to be a real roller-coaster ride, tautly plotted and with a denouement that took my breath away. The settings were atmospheric and vivid; I loved meeting new characters as well as seeing some familiar faces, and I thought the Laughing Girls in particular were brilliantly depicted—they sent chills down my spine! The nail-biting story, coupled with Kate's wonderfully readable style of writing, makes The Pack a page-turning and memorable read. I can't wait to add it to my bookshelf and I wish it all the success it so richly deserves." —Emma Pass, author of Acid and The Fearless
“Balancing basic survival needs and security with belonging and relationships are clear themes in this action-packed fantasy. Flo’s first-person narrative is compelling, drawing the reader into her world, as well as revealing her emotions and thoughts. . . . Readers will find this new and exciting tale hard to put down.” —VOYA
Praise for The Wanderers
"Flo and her friends are but poor, lost circus performers—who shape-shift into animals and try to evade governmental capture. Newly turned 16, orphaned shifter Flo is dreading her first circus performance. Alas for her, it's not optional; all of the shifter children who live with the circus must perform regularly as soon as they reach that age. Flo must take a turn like all the others, so after a false start, she takes the stage—not as a girl but as a magnificent mare. Like her boyfriend, Jett the bear, or her nemesis, Pru the tiger, Flo becomes an animal at will. In a modern world of cars and DVD players, the circus shifters live almost medievally, bound under the unkind leadership of the elders, three middle-aged lion shifters. Flo knows that if she leaves, she'll be vulnerable to hunters, government-funded paramilitary forces that are the modern legacy of sworn enemies who have been murdering shifters since time immemorial. So she tolerates the cruelty of her peers, learns to jump through a flaming hoop, and almost has hope for the future when disaster strikes. In a spare first-person, present-tense narration, Flo takes readers through a swoony romance with a massive body count. Despite the potential whimsy of a circus adventure narrated by a shape-shifting mare, this more closely resembles a brutal, angst-drenched dystopia à la Veronica Roth's Divergent (2011) than anything else. (Fantasy. 13-15)" —Kirkus Reviews
“The preternatural circus of shifters, budding young romance, and action-packed struggle against evil will appeal to readers of paranormal fiction.” —School Library Journal
“The world of shape-shifting characters has just gotten wider with the addition of this novel . . . Fans of supernatural series like Shiver will enjoy this book, with its similar themes and strong love story.” —VOYA Magazine
"Filled with excitement and whimsy, The Wanderers is an adventure story about shape-shifters, first love, and the endless search for a true home." —Suzanne Young, New York Times–bestselling author of The Program
"The Wanderers is a dark, rich, and original story. I love the concept of humans with inherent shape-shifting abilities, and the circus setting is incredibly vivid—I could smell the musty, musky ring, feel the bright lights burning my skin. Kate has created an intricate and danger filled world that's both cruel and beautiful." —Melinda Salisbury, author of The Sin Eater’s Daughter
"An utterly captivating big-top world filled with shape-shifters and dark secrets. I devoured this book! It was unlike anything I’ve ever read." —Amy Christine Parker, author of Gated and Astray
"A fresh tale about shape-shifters that is sure to delight and astound." —Danielle L. Jensen, author of Stolen Songbird
09/01/2017
Gr 7 Up—The adventures of animal-shifter Flo continue, as she and the remaining shifters who survived the labs and the hunters in The Wanderers are now searching for a safe home. Horse-shifter Flo and bear-shifter Jett have been together their whole lives, and have never known anything outside the circus. Now that the circus has been destroyed, they and a small group of shifters who survived the vicious fights in the first book are searching for somewhere they can disappear from civilization and live in peace; they need to avoid EOS, the hunters who will capture them for the labs or kill them on the spot. One of the pack has heard that Rat, a prisoner of some wild shifters in the mountains, knows the way to a safe camp, so they set out to find and rescue him. While Rat does lead them to a large, flourishing pack, their hopes of a new life are dashed just as they arrive; they had been followed by hunters, and the huge colony is attacked. The high action starts from the first page, which may be confusing for newcomers to this world. Little background is given and there's a large cast of characters to follow, making it difficult to read this book as a stand-alone. VERDICT Purchase where the first volume is popular.—MaryAnn Karre, Binghamton, NY
2017-08-27
A group of shape-shifting runaways from the circus, on the run from genocidal hunters, tries to find a home.Flo, her boyfriend, Jett, and the other shifters just want to find a strong pack to join. The teenagers (all either white or with no identified race) can all shift into an animal form: bears or tigers, parrots or rats, elephants or horses. The frightened escapees, who've lost many of their loved ones to hunters, have been seeking some safe place in the woods. The members of this huge cast (with too many names and animal forms to keep track of) have a wide array of agendas. Should they join the wild pack? The wolf pack? Should they even stay together? After brief dramas, many of these newly introduced characters vanish, never to be heard from again. Finally, Flo and the shifters are captured by hunters, who are in league with the lion who used to run their circus, who'd been betraying them for years and who now seeks to strike a bargain. Further dramatic revelations and betrayals await, of course. There's no attempt to summarize the events of The Wanderers (2015), and with so many characters, side quests, and double crosses, it's often difficult to keep track. Even those who loved the first book might find too little logic in this conclusion. (Fantasy. 13-15)
