My Own Lightning: Wolf Hollow, Book 2
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that My Own Lightning is a sequel to the Newbery honor-winning Wolf Hollow, and picks up Annabelle's story a few months later. She's still trying to understand those events and why people, including herself, did what they did. A violent incident involves a dog biting a man's arm and the man using a cattle prod on a child. Pain, injury, and blood are described briefly with no gore. Animals, especially dogs, that have been injured or neglected are an important part of the story, along with sadness from deaths that happened in the past. The villain runs a dogfighting ring, which isn't illegal, and what happens there is described without gore but mentions dogs dying and being disposed of. "Butt" is used once.
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What's the Story?
MY OWN LIGHTNING finds Annabelle caught in a thunderstorm a few months after the tragic events in Wolf Hollow. She gets struck by lightning, but doesn't see who it was who pounded her chest until her heart started again, saving her life. She quickly recovers, to find that all her senses have been increased, so that sights, smells, and sounds are much more intense than before. And she can suddenly understand what animals are thinking and feeling. This sympathy with animals leads her look into animals, mostly dogs, that have recently gone missing, especially at her new, mean-looking neighbor's place where a lot of barking is coming from. In her search she keeps crossing paths with Andy, a bully, and one of the causes of so much recent tragedy. As she learns what's been happening to the dogs, she also learns more about Andy's life and sees different sides of his character. But even if she could bring herself to forgive him for what he did, should she?
Is It Any Good?
This poignant sequel continues to tug at the heartstrings while gently guiding tween and middle-grade readers to explore understanding complicated people, what's true, and what matters. The writing in My Own Lightning isn't as consistently lyrical and poetic as it is in Wolf Hollow, but it's mostly pretty great. Author Lauren Wolk does a good job of ending chapters on a suspenseful note, but this time the sense of dread doesn't hover over everything.
Readers will relate to Annabelle as she tries to understand past events and her own feelings about them, and as she comes to a better understanding of other people and their complicated characters. They'll have a lot of food for thought about empathy, animal cruelty, truth, forgiveness, and people who aren't always what they seem.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the violence in My Own Lightning, especially toward dogs. Was it scary or upsetting? What do you do to feel better when you read something that bothers you?
Is Annabelle a good role model? What character strengths does she show?
Did you read Wolf Hollow before you read this book? If you did, which do you like better? If you didn't, would you like to now?
Book Details
- Author: Lauren Wolk
- Genre: Literary Fiction
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters, Cats, Dogs, and Mice, Friendship, Great Girl Role Models, History
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Dutton Children's Books
- Publication date: May 3, 2022
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 13
- Number of pages: 320
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: May 3, 2022
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