The belly of a wolf by Julianne Negri

Red narrates her return to school after fully six months absence. Something terrible has happened. Through her inner monologue we know that her readiness is largely pretence and that Red is still grieving the loss of her best and seemingly only friend, Wolf.

Concise imagery retrospectively recalls the lives of two small town children, inseparable throughout their schooling to Grade 10. Throughout, they go by their nicknames for each other – carryover from the roles each played in their First Grade play, Little Red Riding Hood.

An echoing rendering of the human response to grief, Red’s mental blocks work against her re-entry to school where unsurprisingly her peers avoid her. With the exception of authority figures, she uses nicknames for her minor 'characters' too and we can speculate about her self-protective motivation. Bank Boy is older, kind and supportive by virtue of his car and availability. There’s concerned Older Brother and Music Girl, who with almost no encouragement is steadfast in her attempts at friendship.

Julieanne Negri is back into the difficult themes after her Almost a Fish picture book, with this senior school verse novel. It doesn’t take much foreshadowing to surmise this is a novel about rural youth suicide and a dark departure from her earlier middle school novel, The Secret Library of Hummingbird House. The sharp, bruised verses are relatable whether linear poems (chapters) to be mulled over or conversely devoured in a couple of days for that overdue book review deadline. [Hint for procrastinators.]

In senseless tragedy there is always guilt and conjecture; Whys? and If Onlys… But Negri is less concerned with Wolf’s disappointments and disproportionate fatalism. Belly of the Wolf is more cautionary in intent. Readers experience visceral evidence of the long term impact on those closest to the person. In this regard, this novel in verse succeeds almost as well as John Larkin’s YA novel, The Pause.

The cover design by Amy Daoud depicting Red Riding Hood consumed in the black belly of the wolf isn’t as literal as it seems. Negri is a writer of diverse talent and her website and blog is also highly recommended.  

Themes: Youth suicide, Grief, Rural mental health, School, Growth mindset.

Deborah Robins