I turned to “Writing Irresistible Kidlit” by Mary Kole for answers. Writing Irresistible Kidlit by Mary Kole (Writer’s Digest Books, 2012) Lauren Wolk made me worry, cry (sob), AND miss half a night’s sleep. That I’m not telling.) I couldn’t put the book down until I found out how it ended, and when I did, I realized it was well past my bedtime. I worried about Annabelle, her brothers, and her friend Toby, a reclusive WWI veteran who lives in the woods. By Chapter 5, I’ll flat out tell you: I was worried. Those scenes are intense, which is perhaps one of several reasons my local bookstore shelved this title under YA, even though it’s marketed as Middle Grade. A “dark-hearted” girl named Betty physically bullies Annabelle. I was hooked by the emotional weight of Annabelle’s burden, and the opening chapters did not disappoint. So much, sometimes, that I wasn’t sure I wanted such a burden.īut I took it anyway, and carried it as best I could. The year I turned twelve, I learned that what I said and what I did mattered. In the prologue, an older Annabelle reflects: Right from the beginning, I sensed her story would be emotionally fraught. A 2017 Newbery Honor, Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk is set in rural Pennsylvania in 1943 and is a coming of age story about almost-twelve-year-old Annabelle.

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