Wolf

The author of Roscoe's Leap (1987) and A Map of Nowhere (1989) again explores universal themes through thrilling, pivotal events in the life of a teen-ager with a traumatic background. Cassy has been raised by her father's stern mother, Nan, with occasional visits to her own feckless mum, Goldie; both mother and grandmother maintain an unbroken silence about Cassy's absent father, whom she barely remembers. Suddenly, Nan sends Cassy for an extended stay with Goldie - who is "squatting" in an abandoned building with a black man, Lyall, and his teen-aged son. The three make a living creating innovative programs for schools: combinations of fact and fiction, drama and story, skillfully blended to challenge stereotypes and spark original thinking. Their latest subject, resonant with social significance and symbolic ambiguities, is the wolf. Haunted by nightmares in which Red Riding Hood's story is recast by her own fears, Cassy is threatened by both the subject and Lyall's ebullient creativity. Meanwhile, she learns that her father is an IRA bomber whom Nan has been protecting - a "wolf" whose perverted territorial instinct leads only to destruction, even of his own family. Weaving memorably offbeat yet believable characters, extraordinary events, and contemporary issues, Cross once again confronts classic verities in a stunningly original, splendidly crafted story. (Kirkus Reviews)