Nine-year-old werewolf Sam has fleas. Thanks to his sister, fleas are the least of his worries.
Sam needs to find the cure to his embarrassing problem before the town's annual fair, or he will be humiliated in front of the entire werewolf community. With the help of his best friend Chris, Sam searches for cures to his hair loss problems.
Will Sam find the cure in time or forever be known as the freak of Wolves' Crossing?
A lower middle-grade chapter book for ages 8-10 years
86 pages
Nine-year-old werewolf Sam has fleas. Thanks to his sister, fleas are the least of his worries.
Sam needs to find the cure to his embarrassing problem before the town's annual fair, or he will be humiliated in front of the entire werewolf community. With the help of his best friend Chris, Sam searches for cures to his hair loss problems.
Will Sam find the cure in time or forever be known as the freak of Wolves' Crossing?
A lower middle-grade chapter book for ages 8-10 years
86 pages
âAh man, Iâve got fleas!â I said, dropping the game controller and scratching the back of my head.
âDonât you dare come near me!â said Chris as he got up from the bed and moved to a spot on the floor closer to the TV. âI just got rid of them.â
âHow did I get fleas⌠again?â I asked, roughly scratching my shoulder.
âYou probably got them while hunting birds last night,â Chris answered with a smirk.
âUgh,â I groaned, âwho would have thought a few ducks could be so much trouble?â
âServes you right, Sam. You should be hunting big game like a regular werewolf.â
âI just wanted a snack,â I said, scratching the back of my neck again. âIs a snack too much to ask for?â
âA snack is a coyote or rabbits. Not birds.â Chris scowled.
âI was craving duck, and besides, rabbits arenât as good,â I said rolling on the bed. âTheyâve got more fur than meat.â
On the TV screen, my guy died in a fiery explosion. Chrisâ character came running through and picked all the gear my army man left when it died. Chris smiled as his inventory doubled. I paused the game and Chris looked up.
âAs for coyote, no way! To me, coyotes are like cousins, and itâs just not cool to eat family, no matter how far down the family tree they are.â
I like being a werewolf most days, but not at times like these. Fleas are the worst. They bite and make you itch. In people form itâs not so bad. When we change into our wolf forms, and all our fur comes out everywhere, those little bugs spread. They drive a wolf crazy. Even in people form, those bugs are still a pain; theyâll bite you in the weirdest of places.
Do you think itâs easy to get rid of fleas when your entire body is covered with fur? Nope, they have a party on me with my curly black hair being so thick. Iâd become an amusement park for fleas.
We werewolves are not like what you see in the movies. Weâre not the clawed monsters that only come out on the full moon. Weâre like regular wolves but bigger. Whoever came up with the full moon idea obviously had never been to Wolvesâ Crossing, Alberta. My little town in the Canadian Rockies is the only werewolf community in the world. We had an entire forest all to ourselves.
Who came up with that goofy moon idea, anyway?
âPut on a flea collar at least,â said Chris, âYouâre making me itchy watching you twitch.â
Chris has been my best bud since we were pups. He lives down the street from me, and we are always together. To me, he is the brother I should have had, and I would gladly trade him for my annoying sister.
âI think Iâll go wash with flea shampoo.â
âOkay, Iâll keep playing till you get back,â said Chris as he resumed the game. The sounds of machine guns, alien screams and explosions followed me down the hall.
Under the bathroom sink, I searched and searched. There were bottles of conditioner, bubble bath and a whole lot of girly products. I pushed the brown bottle of tick remover aside and crawled further inside.
From the door came the voice of my sister Julie. âWhat are you doing, creep?â
âOuch! I just smashed my head thanks to you!â I said, rubbing the top of my head. âIâm looking for the flea shampoo.â
âYeww! Sammie has fleas.â Julie sang, âMy Sam has fleas⌠My Sam has fleas.â
âStop it!â I yelled.
âWhat are you going to do about it, creepo?â
âIâll tell Mom!â I screamed.
âYouâre such a baby,â she said, taking a bottle from the top of the medicine cabinet. âThatâs why Iâm babysitting you and your friend.â
I glared at her. âWeâre not babies; weâre almost ten!â
Julie is thirteen and thinks she is so much better than me because she is older. Every chance she gets, she reminds me. Like I could forget that.
âHere, use this.â She smiled as she handed me the bottle. âBesides, Mom and Dad wonât be back until supper time.â
Waltzing out of the bathroom, Julie continued to sing. âMy Sam has fleasâŚâ
Sisters suck! I thought as I stuck my tongue out at her.
After placing the bottle on the shower shelf, I turned the water on to warm up. When satisfied, the water was warm enough. I stepped into the shower. With my eyes closed, I put my head under the water. Keeping my eyes closed, I fumbled for the bottle of flea shampoo. My fingers finally found it and with my eyes still closed, I flipped open the lid. The smell of rotten eggs filled my nose as I poured a large handful of the smelly cream into my hand.
âYuck! This shampoo smells awful,â I said, crinkling my nose. âIt better be worth it.â
Continuing to slather the smelly gloop through my hair, it wasnât lathering like it usually did. It was thick like the glue I used at school. I spread it all over, and my butt started to itch too, so I lathered it as well.
Canât be too careful. Besides who wants to be caught itching their butt in public?
The smell of rotten eggs got stronger, my scalp started to tingle and became a slight burn.
All I want is to be a normal werewolf.
Full Moon is a fun, werewolf novella thatâs written for kids and definitely did its job in entertaining the kid in me. Who knew that werewolvesâthe real ones that turn into wolves but biggerâcan be equal parts cute and hilarious one moment, then brave and fierce the next?
This book teaches kids (and kids at heart) the value of friendship and courage, and shows instances of when itâs necessary to humble oneâs self and when to stand up and hold your ground against the bullies in your life.
Sam James Henryâs resilience is admirable, fueled by his best bud Chrisâ unwavering support, and even withstanding Chrisâ often hysterical efforts to help out at each turn.
And Chris⌠Chris⌠Chris⌠He is the kind of supportive best friend weâd all wish we had in the scariest, most trying times of our lives, whatever age it may happen to fall on us. I cheered for them at that final showdown. These boysâ friendship, no doubt, is the best thing in this book.
One thing that didnât really sit well with me, though, is the lack of intervention from Sam and Julietâs parents. I didnât feel that grounding the offending sibling for what she did was enough (sorry but that girl's seriously messed up). Moreover, it really bothers me that Mr. and Mrs. Henry didnât even feel the need to find out what was really bothering Sam aside from the disaster that was under his cap. I was really hoping for some sort of redemption for them in the end. It didnât come and I found the story less satisfying because of this.
Kids finding their own voice and courage is always a valuable lesson to teach. But I think, showing kids that there are and will be adults they can rely on for support is also just as valuable, especially since Sam and Julietâs parents were there and didnât seem like they could be negligent people. I guess giving voice to adults in stories like this may have a tendency to turn a little too preachy. But I also donât think a little show of interest and concern could hurt.
That aside, Full Moon is a fun, funny, and inspiring middle grade book that kids can truly enjoy, relate with and learn from. ^-^