The Wolf on Lowre Few Lane is a middle-grades adventure that begins in a small Irish town, and takes readers into a magical land. Pals Colton and Jade are joking about the new American kid and the strange old house over on Lowre Few, when things begin to get weird.

Although it’s an urban fantasy novel, the adolescent moments are very realistic. An overprotective babysitter treats her tween charges as toddlers, much to the embarrassment of the kids. Teachers scold and worry about their students. At one point, one of the kids tries to use his newfound magical powers to create a pizza, and let’s be honest, wouldn’t we all?

The friends, Colton, Jade, Dylan, and Thomas, find themselves on a wild adventure through a land of enchanted ice and snow, with enchanted wish coins and messages by magical hologram projection. Lowre Few is an anagram clue (Werewolves apparently have a weeakness for hint names, just ask Remus Lupin), and the kids must find a villian who’s both a werewolf and a sorcerer. With hints from Dylan’s witchy aunt, and a new friend, a deceptively old “girl’ from an ageless magical people, the kids will need to use their wits to survive the adventure, rescue their friends, and make it home safely. It’s a good middle-grades adventure, but it’s the sweet friendly moments along the way that really make this book work.

There’s a lot of discussion about appropriate content for young readers, so it’s worth mentioning that Colton’s crush on Dylan is just as sweet and age-appropriate as the usual straight crushes in similar books. It’s nice for kids to see themselves in fiction protagonists, especially caring, brave protags like Colton, but readers don’t have to be queer or questioning to connect to our hero. Colton cares about his friends, and finds one of his classmates extra attractive, just as tweens often do, which helps to create a relatable young narrator for this middle-grades adventure story.

The Wolf on Lowre Few Lane will be published by NineStar Press on October 29, 2018 ( )