Lonely Werewolf Girl

Lonely Werewolf Girl
by Martin Miller
2007
Soft Skull Press
Berkeley: California
ISBN:0979663660
[Crossover]
Plot Summary
Lonely Werewolf Girl spins the tale of a troubled teenage werewolf named Kalix; daughter of the royal family clan the MacRinnalchs, sister to a budding fashion designer and sorceress, and lost love of the banished Gawain. Kalix lives in parks and abandoned warehouses on the outskirts and skid-rows of London, kept alive from her murderous pursuers (and brothers) by an ancient and unique talisman garnered by her sorceress sister the Werewolf Enchantress and her best friend the Fire Elemental Malveria.
Kalix is a depressed and laudanum-addicted cutter--violence provides the only relief from the anxieties, fears, and demons roiling within herself. Until she meets Moonglow and Daniel that is...The two "normal" college students befriend the lonely animal, providing her with a bedroom, a bathtub, and a kitchen stocked with raw meat and pizza. The trio is then embroiled in the largest clan feud the Scottish highlands (and all of the United Kingdom and probably the European continent) has faced in hundreds of years.
Critical Evaluation
Lonely Werewolf Girl is an engaging, charming, and labyrinthine tale following a tormented girl struggling to find a balance between the needs and woes of both her lycanthropic and human selves. Kalix's overwhelming anxieties are sensitively described, her idiosyncrasies depicted with a subtle touch allowing for an authentic vacillation of identification, annoyance, love, and hate for the character.
The multiple intrigues and melodramas rife between the MacRinnalch family members and all those who cross their paths provide for a fast-paced and enjoyable read. However, at 500+ pages, the events begin to show wear, particularly some of the subplots involving peripheral figures.
Reader's Annotation
A rollicking ride through several months in the life of Kalix, the teenage werewolf. Suffering from a severe case of anxiety and battle madness, involve yourself with her if you dare!
Author Information
Martin Millar is a Scottsman and a writer of 16 novels. Under the alias name of Martin Scott he won the World Fantasy Award for Thraxas; other novels include The Good Fairies of New York and Suzy, Led Zeppelin and Me. Millar has committed to a sequel to The Lonely Werewolf Girl and is most likely writing it right now!
Genre
Paranormal Romance/ YA Fiction
Book-talking Ideas
*To what might Kalix's self-esteem problems be attributed?
*How might Kalix's violent acts be interpreted as catharsis for her emotional pain?
*Can Kalix's loneliness be fixed? How do the other characters (both werewolf and human) serve to help or hinder her search to end her own pain?
Reading Level/ Interest Age
Categorized as Young Adult, but of interest to teens and beyond into any age of adulthood.
Challenge Issues
Challenges: violence to others; self-inflicted violence; magic.
Answer to challenges: Be familiar with book and its contents, providing personal answers to any challenges. Refer to library's policy regarding challenges. Provide reviews from local teen readers and those posted on reading sites.
Why its Inclusion?
A recent birthday present, and a continuance of reader's current obsession with all things vampire and werewolf.