 | |
| Shiver | |
|---|---|
| Author | Maggie Stiefvater |
| Cover artist | |
| Release date | August 1, 2009 |
| Published by | Scholastic |
| ISBN | 978-0545123273 (paperback) |
| Publication Order | |
| Preceded by | None |
| Followed by | Linger |
Shiver is the first book in The Wolves of Mercy Falls series. It was written by Maggie Stiefvater and released on August 1, 2009.
Shiver has been licensed in over 32 foreign territories and remained on the bestseller list for over 32 weeks, selling 130,996 copies in 2009.
Shiver is a YRCA 2012 Senior Division book.
Publisher's summary[]
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.
Plot summary[]
The book begins with Grace remembering when she was attacked by wolves when she was eleven. However, one wolf saved her. From that point on, she watched "her wolf" in the woods, and he watches her.
The wolves kill Jack and Jack's sister, Isabel, informs Grace that her father is ordering a hunt of the wolves. When Sam shows up on her deck, having been shot, she nurses him and allows him to stay in her room. They soon begin dating after sharing a kiss. Grace's friendship with Olivia is destroyed when Olivia dismisses her claims that the wolves are werewolves. However, Isabel confronts Grace about it. Grace and Sam tell Isabel all about the wolves, including that Jack is one.
Sam's father-son relationship with Beck is ruined when Beck shows Sam that he has created three new wolves for the future of the pack. A pack member, Paul, is attacked to the point where he's almost killed. Sam suspects another wolf, Shelby, who is in love with Sam and wanted Paul out of the way. Sam later has a confrontation with Jack who locks him in one of their sheds. Jack kidnaps Grace but she tricks him into going to Beck's house for the "cure" where he is locked in the bathroom so he can change into a human again. Grace calls Isabel who finds Sam and nurses him back to health. When Grace is taking Sam to see Beck for a final time, she crashes the car and Sam turns into a wolf, escaping.
Grace is distraught and Isabel tries to help her. Olivia apologises to Grace and admits that Jack bit her when she wouldn't tell him the "cure". Isabel later suggests that the fever was what stopped Grace's transformation and that bacterial meningitis could be a possible cure. Beck agrees to help, turning into a wolf for the last time in his attempt to lure Sam out of the woods to sedate him. Grace, Isabel, Olivia, Jack and a wolf Sam head to the clinic where Isabel injects Jack with meningitis. Olivia, however, is scared of the needle and refuses it. Grace manages to communicate with Sam so that he turns human for a moment and she can inject him with meningitis. However, he turns into a wolf again and escapes.
Olivia turns into a wolf and disappears into the woods. Jack dies with Isabel by his side. As Grace and Isabel become closer, Grace is at her house when a human Sam arrives. The final line of the book reads "and I crushed her to me."
Recognition[]
- Debuted at #9 on The New York Times Best Seller list
- Indies Choice Book Award Finalist
- ALA Best Books for Young Adults
- ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers
- Amazon Top Ten Books for Teens
- Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2009
- Border's Original Voices Pick & Finalist
- Barnes & Noble 2009 Top Twenty Books for Teens
- CBC Children's Choice Awards Finalist
- 2010 SIBA Book Award, Finalist
- Junior Library Guild Selection
- Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Nominee
- Glamour's Best Book to Curl Up With
- VOYA's Perfect Ten, 2009
- BDB Top Young Reads of 2009