The Children and the Wolves is a story about 3 very bad kids. Wiggins, Orange, and Bounce come from all walks of life, but find themselves in a very similar situations. Bounce has rich parents who are away all the time, Wiggins lives in a disgusting apartment with his single mother in the poor part of town, and Orange is somewhere in the middle with a single father confined to a wheelchair. I say they are bad kids because they are currently holding a kidnap child and using the sensational media coverage to collect money, so they they can purchase a gun to kill a guy Bounce doesn't like.

This is a pretty dark book, filled with violence, racial slurs, drug abuse, and sexual contact among children. I have a pretty high tolerance for disturbing imagery, but this was tough to read at times, partially because 1 or 2 of the characters are so universally evil, without reason for being so. They felt flat and lacking in motivation for their bad behavior, which gave an element of unbelievably to the book.

Looking at it with a critical eye, I certainly think Rapp has created something interesting. It's disturbing, for sure, and it will definitely be difficult to get through for some people, but it does have an important message, and there is plenty of room for discussion and interpretation.

On a more personal level, however, it's a little anti-climatic and unsatisfying, and I can't look over how one-dimensional 2 of the main characters feel. ( )

Adam Rapp once again demonstrates his mastery of raw, penetrating prose and bleak imagery. A grim, haunting story. ( )

I don't know what to think of this one. I was definitely pleased it was such a quick read since it is so thoroughly unpleasant. There are readers who would love it, but I am not one of them - for one thing I like a little humor for leavening in my books and there really wasn't any here. Rapp is dealing with some pretty heavy themes - this is basically an indictment of American consumerist society for one. How does violence in our entertainment influence our children? (Bounce's love of Ultimate Fighting, the video game Frog plays, etc.) One of the criticisms I've read of this is that the voices of Orange and Wiggins aren't distinct from each other, but I actually didn't think that was true. I thought all four voices were easily recognizable. Bounce is a terrifying character and I pity whichever school she ends up at - prep or otherwise. I can see Rapp's craft and the thought-provoking elements - and there's plenty of metaphor to look at in Frog's video game in particular - but I can't decide how successful he is because I'm so distracted by the unremitting grimness of things. It almost feels like a cautiionary tale - "if we don't do a better job taking care of our children, this is where we're going to end up." It's also so lean that it feels almost like a sketch at times. I guess I'm going to come down on the side of this being really well crafted, but not at all for me and quite depressing in general. ( )

Deeply disturbing. ( )

Totally not sure about this one. For starters I know it's not my kind of book, but I'm having a hard time knowing whose kind of book it is. Three teens--one a very smart girl, the other two her dim-bulb guy friends--mastermind a plot to kidnap a young girl and collect money for a rescue effort.

The teens are supposed to be in 8th grade, but they read much older. Lots of sexual references and drug use make this most appropriate for older teens but the young age of the characters might turn those older teens off, I dunno.

I think Adam Rapp just isn't for me. It's not a bad book, but totally not for me. ( )