Blue Boy grows increasingly dismayed at Lamar’s lack of wolf instincts, and then Lamar does the intolerable: he becomes attracted to a coyote. He has little interest in peacocking in front of other clans. He worries if his younger siblings fall behind in the hunt. But Lamar is not turning out the way his father hoped. Blue Boy, the alpha male of his pack, is the largest wolf many have ever seen, and his dream is to have a firstborn son who will take after him in every way. Born into rankings and expected to live up to their roles. (Sept.A young wolf seeks the bravery to be himself in this lyrical homage to challenging societal stereotypes, from the author of National Book Award Finalist Mean Margaret and The Wainscott Weasel.Wolves. In an era of so many definitions of ""family,"" this perceptive story zeroes in on one model formed of cooperation and friendship. Conventional expectations are dashed-Fred's about domestic bliss, Phoebe's about motherhood-but compromises are reached, and even feral Margaret returns to an improved home life. Fred and Phoebe fall in love convincingly (""as a rule, woodchuck courtships take less than an hour""), Phoebe's sister is a single mother of three, and the skunk gives Margaret a richly deserved dousing. Agee (Dmitri the Astronaut) contributes understated pen-and-ink sketches of the catastrophic scenes, while Seidler (The Wainscott Weasel) takes refreshing risks with well-trod territory. Phoebe names Nine ""Margaret"" (her mother's name) and takes her to the burrow, where she proceeds to destroy the furniture, shriek nonstop and force Fred and Phoebe to relocate to a cave shared by a skunk, two bats and a crotchety snake. The youngest, Nine, is a terror, so her siblings dispose of her ""in a ditch,"" where her screams summon Phoebe. A mile away lives an imperfect human family with nine kids, the last four of which are called by their numerical order of delivery. The tale opens with the marriage of two loving but dissimilar woodchucks: patient Phoebe wants children, while neatnik Fred prefers a tidy burrow. This witty novel about a cranky toddler and her adoptive parents slyly reverses the people-pets dynamic as it comments on modern relationships.
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