Call me naïve, but I wasn’t really aware there was a genre of fiction known as ‘alternative history’ until I was handed Wolf By Wolf to review. In this novel, author Ryan Graudin is exploring the idea of ‘what if’ Hitler had won World War II and, unsurprisingly, it’s grim.

Yael was only 6 years old when she was put into a concentration camp, along with her mother. It was there that she became one of the children experimented on by the Nazis. As the experiments increase, Yael feels herself changing, until she realises that she can skin-shift, an ability to change into other people she has seen or conjures up. Hiding the results from the Nazi doctor, Yael skin-shifts her way out of the concentration camp where she eventually becomes part of a resistance group.

Now eighteen years old, Yael is ready for her first mission for the resistance: to kill Hitler. I’m not usually one to read action-packed sorts of novels, but for some reason this one grabbed me. The idea of exploring an alternative history was something I was intrigued by, and I’m sure it is one that young adults will find interesting and exciting. Recommended for ages 14 and up.

Katherine Dretzke