Contemporary Authors

• Gray Wolf Island ( novel) Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2017

1. Gray Wolf Island LCCN 2016056934 Type of material Book Personal name Neithercott, Tracey author. Main title Gray Wolf Island / Tracey Neithercott. Edition First edition. Published/Produced New York : Alfred A. Knopf, [2017] Projected pub date 1111 Description pages cm ISBN 9781524715304 (hardback) 9781524715311 (library binding) CALL NUMBER PZ7.1.N42 Gr 2017 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms

• Tracey Neithercott - http://traceyneithercott.com/about

  ABOUT
  Tracey Neithercott Full

  My first book was written by hand and illustrated with some really fancy colored pencils. It was highly acclaimed by my mother. Now, I write YA stories of friendship, love, murder, and magic. (None of which I illustrate—you’re welcome.) I live in Massachusetts with my husband, who suggests improving my novels by adding Star Wars characters.

  I’m the author of Gray Wolf Island, a YA novel about the truth, a treasure, and five teens searching for both. Coming fall 2017 from Knopf/Random House.

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceyneithercott

  Tracey Neithercott
  Associate Publisher at Diabetes Forecast

  Greater Boston AreaPublishing
  Current
  American Diabetes Association, Penguin Random House
  Previous
  American Diabetes Association, Diabetes Forecast magazine, American Diabetes Association, Freelance Writer
  Education
  Loyola College in Maryland
  Recommendations 1 person has recommended Tracey Neithercott
  Websites
  Personal Website
  Experience
  Associate Publisher
  American Diabetes Association
  2017 – Present (1 year)
  See experience details
  Penguin Random House
  Author
  Penguin Random House
  2017 – Present (1 year)
  My YA novel with Knopf Books for Young Readers releases on Oct. 10, 2017

  Description:
  Right before Sadie died, she begged her sister, Ruby, to do the one thing she could never do herself: Find the treasure on Gray Wolf Island.

  With just a mysterious treasure map as a guide, Ruby reluctantly allows some friends to join her on the hunt, each of whom is touched by magic: a boy allegedly born to a virgin, a girl who never sleeps, a boy who can foresee his own death, and a boy with deep ties to the island. Each of them is also keeping a secret—something they’ll have to reveal in order to reach the treasure.

  As the secrets come to light, Ruby will have to decide: Can she make peace with her friends’ troubled pasts and continue to trust them? Can she forgive herself for doing the unspeakable? Deep in the wilderness of Gray Wolf Island, Ruby’s choices will determine if they make it out with the treasure—or merely with their lives.

  From debut author Tracey Neithercott comes a darkly compelling tale of profound friendship, adventure, and finding the strength to tell the truth.

  American Diabetes Association
  Associate Director of Diabetes Forecast magazine
  American Diabetes Association
  May 2017 – October 2017 (6 months)
  See experience details
  American Diabetes Association
  Senior Editor at Diabetes Forecast magazine
  American Diabetes Association
  June 2014 – May 2017 (3 years)
  See experience details
  Diabetes Forecast magazine, American Diabetes Association
  Associate Editor
  Diabetes Forecast magazine, American Diabetes Association
  February 2008 – June 2014 (6 years 5 months)
  See experience details
  Freelance Writer
  Freelance Writer
  2008 – 2013 (5 years)
  See experience details
  Senior Editor
  Philadelphia Style magazine
  November 2004 – January 2008 (3 years 3 months)
  See experience details
  Baltimore Magazine
  Editorial Intern
  Baltimore Magazine
  August 2003 – April 2004 (9 months)
  See experience details
  Correspondent
  The Lowell Sun newspaper
  May 2002 – August 2002 (4 months)
  See experience details
  Education
  Loyola College in Maryland
  Loyola College in Maryland
  Bachelor of Arts, Journalism (minor French)
  2000 – 2004
  Activities and Societies: editor for The Greyhound college newspaper, Pi Delta Phi Honors Society, Dean's List, graduated Summa Cum Laude

  University of Auckland
  University of Auckland
  2003 – 2003
  Activities and Societies: study abroad

  Westford Academy
  1997 – 2000
  Activities and Societies: school newspaper

• Literary Rambles - http://www.literaryrambles.com/2017/10/tracey-neithercott-interview-and-gray.html

  Posted by Natalie Aguirre on Monday, October 09, 2017

  TRACEY NEITHERCOTT INTERVIEW and GRAY WOLF ISLAND GIVEAWAY
  Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have debut author Tracey Neithercott here to share about her YA mystery/magical realism GRAY WOLF ISLAND. The combination of a mystery and the magical realism really appeals to me, and it’s gotten rave reviews.

  Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:

  Right before Sadie died, she begged her sister, Ruby, to do the one thing she could never do herself: Find the treasure on Gray Wolf Island.

  With just a mysterious treasure map as a guide, Ruby reluctantly allows some friends to join her on the hunt, each of whom is touched by magic: a boy allegedly born to a virgin, a girl who never sleeps, a boy who can foresee his own death, and a boy with deep ties to the island. Each of them is also keeping a secret—something they’ll have to reveal in order to reach the treasure.

  As the secrets come to light, Ruby will have to decide: Can she make peace with her friends’ troubled pasts and continue to trust them? Can she forgive herself for doing the unspeakable? Deep in the wilderness of Gray Wolf Island, Ruby’s choices will determine if they make it out with the treasure—or merely with their lives.

  From debut author Tracey Neithercott comes a darkly compelling tale of profound friendship, adventure, and finding the strength to tell the truth.

  Hi Tracey! Thanks so much for joining us!

  Thank you so much for having me! It’s like coming full circle—I relied so heavily on this site when querying agents.

  1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

  I think I’ve always been a writer, in one way or another. Even as a kid—when I had it in my head I’d be a famous a movie star because I was, like, ten and obsessed with movies—I was writing stories. In high school, I attempted a couple novels, both of which were more like novel openings than anything even remoted novel-like.

  But in college, I started to think about Serious Writing, which in my mind was both deserving of capital letters and a viable career option. I could be a magazine editor, I decided, but not an author. Authors were magical people who could write books with beginnings and middles and ends. Dreaming of publishing a book felt a bit like dreaming of being a unicorn tamer.

  It wasn’t until a few years after college that I started seriously thinking about writing. I’d had book ideas for as long as I could remember, but this time they wouldn’t go away. I was born in the Olden Days, so while my only source of publishing information as a teen was the library, now I had blogs and a vibrant writer community. Following writer blogs, watching unpublished writers get agents and then publishing deals—it all gave me courage to try.

  2. Awesome that you finally gave into your ideas. Where did you get the idea for GRAY WOLF ISLAND?

  The idea for GRAY WOLF ISLAND came to me in pieces, as items I loved that I decided to throw together.

  First, came the friendship. I’ve always wanted to write a book about friendship but hadn’t found the

  right story. One night, I was watching Stand by Me and decided that was the sort of friendship I wanted to write about: intense and life-changing. (If we’re pretending the voiceover ending didn’t happen and the boys stayed best friends for a long time.) But I wanted to write this for teens.

  Second, came the treasure hunt. I’d kept those friends in the back of my head as I worked on a different book. I had a hard time letting go, though, and soon I knew I wanted to send them on some sort of quest. About that time, my husband began watching The Curse of Oak Island on the History Channel. It’s about real-life Oak Island, which sits off the coast of Nova Scotia and supposedly hides a treasure in its giant pit. It immediately clicked: friendship + treasure hunt.

  Everything else sort of fell into place from there.

  3. Your story is filled with mysteries. A mysterious map and mysterious pasts of friends are some. How did you decide on the mysteries you wanted to include and how did you weave them in?

  I seem to have a hard time writing a story without some kind of mystery, but for this one I knew from the start there would be several that readers would unravel throughout the course of the book. Obviously a treasure hunt lends itself well to a mystery—the location (and existence) of the treasure is a mystery itself. But because the story focuses so heavily on secrets and the truth, I thought it’d be fun to surround the characters with mystery, too.

  At first I picked secrets that tied to the characters’ backstories, but what I realized is that they became more powerful when they connected to the plot or other characters in some way. I decided to pick secrets that would affect each character, the others, and maybe even the events of the story. Some secrets are bigger than others, but for each I added hints throughout so that when they’re finally revealed readers (hopefully!) say, “How did I not see that coming?”

  I also made use of two POVs. My second POV character is a mystery himself, but within his chapters are clues and hints about the characters in the main POV.

  I built some of the mysteries in the first draft, but most of the work happened during revision, when I knew the story and could best tweak the mysteries and red herrings.

  4. That's a cool idea to connect the character's mysteries to other characters and the plot.What type of plotter were you when writing GRAY WOLF ISLAND? How did that process work for you?

  I’m a huge plotter. I pantsed my first novel and spent ages revising it. For GRAY WOLF ISLAND, I created a pretty detailed outline before I wrote the first word. I work in Scrivener, so I start by creating folders for ideas, research, character information, setting details, photos, and so on.

  When I begin plotting, I use the cork board function to set up note cards. I like to structure my story in a modified three-act structure. I keep Act 1 and Act 3 the same, but I split Act 2 into two at the midpoint. I then outline the major points: inciting incident, plot point 1, the decision, midpoint, bad guys closing in, black moment, plot point 2, climax, and resolution. I build from there, filling in scenes and shaping the character arc.

  Knowing all of this—including (especially) the ending—really helps me focus while writing. In the end, I still spent an extraordinarily long time writing this book. The words came slowly. I couldn’t turn off my inner editor. It was a long, long process.

  But it worked out just fine because revision was a breeze.

  5. I'm trying to plot more like you because my first manuscript took so much editing. I'll be curious to see if I call revising a breeze. I love the magic that you picked for your story, such as a girl who never sleeps and a boy who predicts his own death. Where did you come up for the ideas for your magical system?

  I’m not sure when I decided this world would have magic, but at some point I just knew there was magic in the world. I also knew it was part of the world in the way sunsets and rainbows are part of ours. As far as most of the magic is concerned, I wanted readers to wonder whether it was really magic. Does the narrator, Ruby, really go invisible? Was Gabe’s mother truly a virgin when she gave birth?

  For the five main treasure-hunters, I considered magic in two ways: either as an extension of who they are at their core or as something that affects the plot (or both). In the end, it turned out that the magic sort of emphasizes some of the important themes of the book. But probably nobody will notice that but me!

  6. Shows how in depth your thought process was. Your agent is Sarah LaPolla. Share how she became your agent and what your road to publication was like.

  I met Sarah when I was querying my very first novel, ALIVE. I’d entered it into a contest, and Sarah had asked for pages. She ultimately passed but said she liked my writing and would like to see whatever I wrote next.

  At the time, I had my novel out with about ten or so agents. I was a giant ball of stress (if you’re currently querying, I’m sure you can relate), and to get my mind off my inbox, I decided to write something new.

  [Side note: The best advice I ever read was to write something new while querying. I’m not sure how I would have gotten through the wait without focusing on my next project.]

  About a chapter in to this new project, THE MURDER MYTH, I knew it was so much better than the one I was querying. I’d been getting a lot of requests for fulls on ALIVE, but none led to an offer. I had a choice: Send out a second round of queries, or focus on THE MURDER MYTH. I decided to focus on the new book, revising it and then sending it out to agents.

  I’d wisened up by then, and the minute I sent my first query, I started writing something new. That turned out to be GRAY WOLF ISLAND.

  Sarah ended up offering on THE MURDER MYTH, and at the time I simply mentioned GRAY WOLF ISLAND as my next project. She liked the idea, but first we focused efforts on getting THE MURDER MYTH ready for submission to editors.

  Stop me if this sounds familiar: About five chapters in to GRAY WOLF ISLAND, I knew it was so much better than the one on submission. By the time Sarah was ready to submit THE MURDER MYTH to more editors, I had a finished first draft of GRAY WOLF ISLAND. I had a choice: Submit to a second round of editors, or focus on GRAY WOLF ISLAND.

  I asked Sarah to stop submitting to editors.

  At the time, I couldn’t tell whether I was a quitter or just going with my gut. Looking back, I’m glad I trusted my instincts. GRAY WOLF ISLAND sold pretty soon after it went on submission, and I’m so thankful this is my debut novel instead of the others.

  7. What a story of only wanting to submit the best you could write. What was something that surprised you about working with Sarah or your editor? Why?

  I did a ton of research on publishing, agents, and editors before I ever began querying, so there weren’t too many surprises, thankfully. I’ve been thinking about this question a bit, and I suppose one aspect that surprised me a bit was how a simple phone conversation with my agent or editor can clear up any confusion on their manuscript notes. When Sarah first read GRAY WOLF ISLAND, she made a suggestion I wasn’t fully on board with. But once we got on the phone and she explained her reasoning, I totally got what she was saying. The simple rewording of her concern helped me see my story in a new light.

  8. That's great that you could get clarification. I'd need that too. What was a challenge you faced in some part of your journey so far? How did you overcome it?

  I think my greatest challenge has been self-made—and I’m not sure I’ve fully overcome it yet. The hardest part of being a writer, for me, is believing in myself. I did overcome my doubts to an extent—enough to get me to write that first novel, to send out that first query, to go on submission.

  But with each book, I face doubt and uncertainty all over again. With my current WIP, I’m right back there, wondering how I ever wrote a novel and whether I can do it again. I’m not sure I’ll ever truly overcome those doubts, but I’ve been teaching myself to bypass them by reminding myself that I did do it before. And that an unwritten book never sells.

  9. I totally have that doubt. It scares me enough to be afraid to try to query. How are you marketing your book? Why have you chosen these avenues vs. other ways you could be promoting your book?

  Book marketing is still something of a mystery to me, so there’s a 90 percent chance I’m doing it all wrong. Okay, a 98 percent chance.

  I’ve decided to primarily focus the majority of my efforts in a few spots: Twitter, Instagram, and my newsletter. I have a Facebook page, but I basically despise Facebook so I really only do the bare minimum there. Fact is, marketing is a lot of work (talk about debut year surprises), and I didn’t want to waste my time on a form of social media I really don’t enjoy.

  In the end, I’m sure I’ll end up thinking I did both too little and too much. Because there’s really no good way to determine whether your efforts have led to sales. Which is why all the smart people say the same thing: Do what you need to in order to feel like you’re making a difference, but focus on your next book. I try to remind myself of this daily.

  10. Good advice. What are you working on now?

  I’m currently working on a YA book I’m calling a contemporary fantasy. (Is that a genre? Can I pretend it is?) It’s a bit like the movie Big Fish in that.

  I’ve been describing the book as Rumpelstiltskin, if Maleficent were the miller’s daughter. It has a really fun setting, an antihero, riddles, and characters I already love. It also has a long, long way to go before it’s done.

  Thanks for sharing all your advice, Tracey. You can find Tracey at INSERT YOUR LINKS

• Taylor Marie Writes - https://taylormariewrites.com/2017/10/01/author-qa-tracey-neithercott/

  AUTHOR Q&A // TRACEY NEITHERCOTT
  OCTOBER 1, 2017 TAYLOR MARIE
  Q&A
  Taylor: Welcome, Tracey! Thank you so much for taking the time answer my questions. To start off, tell us a little about your debut novel, GRAY WOLF ISLAND.

  Tracey: GRAY WOLF ISLAND is about five teens who set out for a mysterious island off the coast of their Maine town with hopes of discovering a legendary treasure said to be buried there.

  Here’s what they know: The island demands three deaths, and so far it’s only had two.

  Here’s what they don’t know: The island is also hungry for their secrets.

  T: When did the idea for GRAY WOLF ISLAND first strike you?

  Tracey: The idea came to me in two distinct stages: First, while I was watching STAND BY ME. There’s a part in the movie where Gordie and Chris are having a heart-to-heart about stolen money, judgmental adults, and what it means to never be given a chance.

  It’s a pretty deep and emotional conversation for a couple of boys who also found themselves highly amused at a story of mass puking. I’d been wanting to write a book about friendship, but it wasn’t until that very moment that I knew the sort of friendship story I wanted to tell. The deep, important friendships formed in GRAY WOLF ISLAND were inspired by that moment between those two boys.

  I’d decided to send a group of teens on a treasure hunt, but I hadn’t thought any further about it until my husband started watching THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND. It’s a History Channel show about a real-life island off the coast of Nova Scotia, its seemingly endless pit, and the treasure legend says is buried there. It all clicked at that point. I had a treasure hunt, and now I had a treasure island.

  T: GRAY WOLF ISLAND has this perfect blend of adventure and mystery while still maintaining a lot of character depth. How did you manage to juggle all these aspects to make a cohesive piece?

  Tracey: Thank you—I’m glad you think it worked! From the very beginning, I knew this wouldn’t be a pulse-pounding, nonstop action adventure. It was always about the characters for me—their friendships, their secrets, their growth throughout the book. Because that was my focus, I naturally wrote the adventure as a vehicle for bringing about all of those changes. In fact, I had to go back and beef up a lot of the action and plot-related elements during revision.

  The mystery was a different story. I planned for that from the very beginning—and I needed to, if I wanted to tie it to my characters’ growth, their secrets, and the plot. One thing I realized while planning this story was that all of my wish-list story elements—mystery, magic, hidden treasure, the truth, and lies—felt disconnected on their own. I needed to weave them all together in order to deepen the story and the characters.

  T: How long was your writing process for this particular manuscript?

  Tracey: About two centuries, give or take a few months.

  In all seriousness, the writing portion of this took a little over a year. It felt infinitely long, like maybe I had spent my life starting it and would spend the rest of my life finishing it. (I get pretty overdramatic while drafting.)

  The words came slowly. I couldn’t silence my inner editor. I doubted myself the entire way.

  I’ve since learned this is just my process (I’m currently snail-crawling my way through my next book), but at the time, I thought something was wrong with me. Until it came time for revision, which was a total breeze.

  T: As I mentioned earlier, I really admire the amount of character depth in GRAY WOLF ISLAND. What is your method in constructing characters?

  Tracey: Thank you! It was something I tackled very deliberately and in detail. I envisioned this book as a very character-driven treasure hunt, and I wanted each side character to feel as real and important as the two point-of-view characters.

  Whenever I start a new novel, I create character sheets for all of my main and side characters. I’ve seen a lot of character-building worksheets that ask detailed questions like your character’s favorite color and movie and ice cream flavor.

  But to me, those details don’t really matter at the start of a first draft, and you can make them up as you go along. I like to fill my character sheet with the things that impact who the character is deep down. What are their flaws? What are their internal and external conflicts? What do they want most of all? And what might they not want but truly need most of all? I also like to give each of my characters a secret. Those played a major role in GRAY WOLF ISLAND, but even if they never come to light, they can help deepen a character.

  The process is a lot like brainstorming a main character, which is sort of the point. If you think of your side characters as the main character of their own stories, they’ll feel richer. So I give mine their own character arcs and let them deal with either an internal or external problem throughout the book. The focus will still be on the main plot and character, but by allotting time to deal with the side character’s issues—say, Charlie’s struggle with his predicted death or [spoiler for the rest of the characters]—they feel like more than caricatures there for the sake of the plot or the main character’s growth. They become real people dealing with real problems that happen to tie into the main character’s journey.

  T: What are your must-haves while writing?

  Tracey: Technically all I really need is my laptop. Technically.

  In reality, I usually have about four other things with me before I begin writing:

  1. When I really want to procrastinate—I mean, indulge myself—I’ll put on a sheet mask before a writing session.

  2. I’ll also have hand lotion…uh, handy? It helps me not get distracted by my dry hands or cuticles. (When writing a first draft, I get distracted by everything: Twitter, Instagram, knots in my hardwood floor…)

  3. I despise mornings and only wake before noon for work—and only then because it pays the bills. I’m a phenomenal night owl, though. Because I do most of my writing in the wee hours of the night, my drinks of choice are water and decaf green tea. On weekends, though, I’ll write in the afternoon and down an unhealthy number of lattes.

  4. Probably the most essential of all is the Brainwaves app on my phone. It uses sounds to induce various brainwaves that, in turn, put you in a given state of mind. I know: It sounds like make-believe. But I’ve been using the Brainwaves Creativity setting while writing, and I find it really does make a difference!

  T: Another thing I admired in your novel is the way you subtly touched upon PTSD. What was it like for you to take this step and write about this topic?

  Tracey: This question is so incredibly hard to answer without spoilers, so pardon the vague response. This wasn’t something I initially planned for, though I knew several characters would be struggling with things that happened in their pasts. Part of what I wanted for GRAY WOLF ISLAND was to contrast the magical aspects (a girl who never sleeps! a boy born to a virgin!) with stark reality. The book deals with some really difficult topics through a few of the teens’ secrets. The inclusion of PTSD felt similar—very real to our world amid events that are almost otherworldly. There were a couple other reasons I took this step, related to the eventual outcome of this storyline, but I can’t seem to explain them without major spoilers!

  T: As an aspiring author myself, I would love to know how was the querying process for GRAY WOLF ISLAND?

  Tracey: There wasn’t one! I was a few chapters into the first draft of GRAY WOLF ISLAND when I got my agent with another novel.

  If my journey to publication was a self-help book, it’d either be titled “Learn to Trust Your Gut in Five Easy Steps” or “Quitters Sometimes Win.”

  I first met my agent, Sarah LaPolla, through an online contest. I’d entered my first novel, and she requested pages. She ultimately passed (as she should have) but said she liked my writing and wanted to see my next project.

  I had that first project out with about ten agents at the time, but to keep my sanity, I started something new: THE MURDER MYTH. A chapter in, I knew it was infinitely better than the book I was querying. I had a choice: send out another batch of queries or ready the new book for querying. It came down to this: When I thought about which book I wanted to debut with, it was THE MURDER MYTH.

  So I quit. I didn’t send out any more queries for the first and focused on the second. That’s the book that landed me my agent. We sent that out to a bunch of editors, but by the time Sarah was ready to send to a second round of editors, I was far enough into GRAY WOLF ISLAND that I knew it was infinitely better than the others.

  So I quit. Or maybe I just followed my gut. I asked Sarah to skip sending THE MURDER MYTH to a second round of editors, and instead we focused on GRAY WOLF ISLAND. Maybe THE MURDER MYTH would have eventually sold. Maybe GRAY WOLF ISLAND could have been my second novel. But in the end, I’m glad this is the book I’m debuting with.

  T: I know this is a tough question, but I have to ask: who is your favorite character of GRAY WOLF ISLAND?

  Tracey: I can’t pick! I love them all for different reasons. Ruby, of course, has my heart: her devotion to her sister, her stubbornness, and her growth. But I also love Anne for her ability to see the good in people, Charlie and his adventurous attitude, Gabe’s desperation for change, and Elliot because though he’s prickly, he’s curious, smart, and full of heart.

  Sometimes, though, I think my favorite of all is Doris. I cracked up the entire time I was writing her.

  T: Who inspires you most, creatively speaking?

  Tracey: I find inspiration all over the place: music, movies, TV, books. Even real life—a person I encounter or a snippet of conversation I hear. But when I’m in a creative funk and need tried-and-true inspiration, I’ll reread one of my favorite books, like JELLICOE ROAD, BONE GAP, or THE SCORPIO RACES.

  T: In GRAY WOLF ISLAND, you use TREASURE ISLAND as this staple force that moves the plot forward. What inspired you to use this particular book as such a major part of your story?

  Tracey: I think it’s mostly me winking at the reader. At the same time—and I’m going to have to get vague here to avoid spoilers—it seemed the person who created the treasure map would find it particularly funny to hide the Gray Wolf Island treasure in a book about another island and another treasure.

  T: Do you currently have any projects in the works?

  Tracey: I do! The project I mentioned above—the one coming along at a snail’s pace—is another contemporary novel with bits of fantasy. I’ve been referring to it as Rumpelstiltskin, if Maleficent was the miller’s daughter. I can’t say much more at this point, but it has so many things I adore: mysteries and riddles, people with strange and wondrous abilities, a villain I can’t help but love, and a heroine who’s definitely evil.

  T: Lastly, what is your advice to fellow writers and creatives?

  Tracey: My greatest struggles as a writer are with doubt and fear. While drafting, I’m plagued with them. I tell myself my story is a mess, my characters are flat, the setting weak, and the twists and turns predictable. I tell myself all of those awful things and more because I doubt my abilities and fear failure.

  I constantly have to remind myself of a quote I once heard: Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s end. I can’t compare my first draft to finished books that have gone through rounds and rounds of revision.

  Another helpful reminder I often tell myself: Unfinished books don’t get published.

4/23/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Print Marked Items
Neithercott, Tracey. Gray Wolf Island
Jim Nicosia
Voice of Youth Advocates.
40.4 (Oct. 2017): p75+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
3Q * 4P * J * S
Neithercott, Tracey. Gray Wolf Island. Knopf/Penguin Random House, October 2017. 336p. $17.99. 978-1-
5247-1530-4.
Despite the title and cover art, Neithercott's debut is not a naturalist novel. It is a fantasy quest--and a good
one. Gray Wolf Island is a magical place with a secret: a pit at its center, not unlike the mystery on Canada's
real-life Oak Island. The island is hungry for human life. In the opening chapter, narrator Ruby reveals what
has haunted her for the past year: the day she euthanized her sister, Sophie. Ruby soon discovers the
requisite riddle-poem that encodes the treasure and endeavors to please Sophie's spirit by pursuing the
quest. Somewhat formulaically, Sophie was the socially active adventurer, and, in the exploits that follow,
Ruby transforms from passive introvert to empowered teen.
Neithercott excels once she begins fleshing out Ruby's posse. These are not five friends (despite the back
cover's assertion), and they have yet to earn each other's trust. They are also not gender-exclusive. Ruby and
Anne are joined by Gabriel and Elliot, the bad boys, and fascinating Charlie, who has foreseen his death.
Tension develops as the boys contend with Ruby as their leader. While each character harbors a personal
secret, Neithercott reveals them uniquely: unlike the Breakfast Club motif in which secrets endear
characters to each other, here they reinforce the distance between each. There is also the mysterious Cooper,
whose story parallels Ruby's; when the narratives intersect, it brings another insightful twist toward a
satisfying conclusion. Fans of fantasy will enjoy this strange, unique story of interesting characters and
mysterious, magical setting.--Jim Nicosia.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Nicosia, Jim. "Neithercott, Tracey. Gray Wolf Island." Voice of Youth Advocates, Oct. 2017, p. 75+. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A511785097/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=13c7f7e9. Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A511785097
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Neithercott, Tracey: GRAY WOLF
ISLAND
Kirkus Reviews.
(July 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Neithercott, Tracey GRAY WOLF ISLAND Knopf (Children's Fiction) $17.99 10, 10 ISBN: 978-1-5247-
1530-4
To fulfill the final wish of her late twin sister, a girl embarks on an adventure to find buried treasure.After
Sadie's death, white teen Ruby Caine flounders. But she has one thing left: the promise she made to Sadie
that she'd find the buried treasure on Gray Wolf Island. Ruby has no intention of fulfilling the request, until
one day at the library she stumbles upon a poem hidden in a copy of Treasure Island--a map to the treasure
that enthralled her twin. Despite her protests, a ragtag group forms to hunt the treasure. Elliot Thorne, the
white nerd-turned-bad boy, Gabe Nash, the white heartthrob born (as local legend has it) from a virgin
mother, Charlie Kim, the Korean boy with visions of his own death, and Anne Lansing, the Native
American (nation never named) girl who hardly sleeps, make up Ruby's merry band. But they discover that
not only is Gray Wolf Island perilous, it also causes, even exacerbates mental anguish. They begin hearing
whispers, urging them to speak their truths. But Ruby's secret is too damning, and her need to conceal it
may cost them more than treasure. Rich in atmosphere and characters with real depth, Ruby's adventure
sings. But an alternating perspective from an amnesiac boy whose story is connected to the origin of the
treasure cuts the tension, and the reveal of the boy's past feels far-fetched. An engrossing but uneven
mystery. (Paranormal mystery. 13-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Neithercott, Tracey: GRAY WOLF ISLAND." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A498345063/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0d69ea01.
Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A498345063
4/23/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1524532002501 3/3
Neithercott, Tracey. Gray Wolf Island
Jennifer Rummel
School Library Journal.
63.8 (Aug. 2017): p96.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
NEITHERCOTT, Tracey. Gray Wolf Island. 336p. Knopf. Oct. 2017. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781524715304.
Gr 7-10--Ruby made a vow to her twin sister, Sadie before she died that she would find the legendary
treasure on a nearby island. A year after Sadie's death, Ruby attempts to keep her promise after she
discovers a treasure map in the form of a poem tucked inside a copy of Treasure Island. Her research leads
her to Gabe, who, along with his two friends, insists on helping her. They need someone with a boat and
sailing experience, which brings them to Anne. The five of them plan for a week's adventure. According to
the poem, once on the island, they must let go of their secrets before they locate the treasure. Ruby's afraid
to tell her secret; now that she's found friends, she doesn't want to them to think less of her. This lyrical
debut novel weaves the concept of forgiving evil acts into a treasure hunt novel, and creates a dialogue
about second chances and redemption. Ruby needs to forgive herself and, in doing so, her transformation
from her twin's shadow into her own person becomes the highlight of the story. Though most of the book is
narrated by Ruby, some of the chapters are told from the perspectives of two other characters; these chapters
create confusion and might pull some readers out of the story. The conclusion feels anticlimactic and might
infuriate teens. VERDICT Recommended exclusively as a secondary purchase; give only to patient and
sophisticated readers.--Jennifer Rummel, Cragin Library, Colchester, CT
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Rummel, Jennifer. "Neithercott, Tracey. Gray Wolf Island." School Library Journal, Aug. 2017, p. 96.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A499597875/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=dfb83d1d. Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A499597875

Nicosia, Jim. "Neithercott, Tracey. Gray Wolf Island." Voice of Youth Advocates, Oct. 2017, p. 75+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A511785097/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 23 Apr. 2018. "Neithercott, Tracey: GRAY WOLF ISLAND." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A498345063/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 23 Apr. 2018. Rummel, Jennifer. "Neithercott, Tracey. Gray Wolf Island." School Library Journal, Aug. 2017, p. 96. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A499597875/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 23 Apr. 2018.

• Heres to Happy Endings
  http://www.herestohappyendings.com/2017/10/gray-wolf-island-by-tracey-neithercott/
  Word count: 1108

  22
  OCT
  2017
  Gray Wolf Island by Tracey Neithercott
  My Review
  I went in to Gray Wolf Island not knowing too much of what it was about – I mean, I read the synopsis and all, but this was months and months ago, so when I started reading it, I didn’t really remember what it was about.

  Which means that I had forgotten that it was about a treasure hunt!

  Yes! A treasure hunt! How awesome was that? Imagine my giddiness when I started reading this book and got to the point where I realized that was what the book was about…I was so excited. So as usual when I’m super excited about a book, I kept reading through pretty much the whole day until I finished it, and I loved every single page.

  This book combines mystery, magical realism, and budding friendship between five teenagers to create a fun story that revolves around a hidden treasure that they are destined to find. The plot also has a host of chilling secrets – and brings about the realization that everyone has something that they don’t want others to know.

  “‘You know what you need, Ruby?’
  ‘A paying job?’
  ‘An adventure.'”

  These are words spoken to Ruby, who i still dealing with the death of her twin sister, Sadie, and has done nothing but retreat into the shadows because she doesn’t feel as if she can possibly ever be whole again. Although Ruby promised Sadie she would finish up what she started, and continue her mission to find the treasure of Gray Wolf Island after she died, Ruby still hasn’t gotten around to doing just that. She doesn’t feel worthy, especially with the terrible secret she has been hanging on to since that horrible day.

  However, when urged to find the treasure, and then when she locates a map and poem that will help her to it, she finds herself talking to Elliott, wanna-be-bad boy who claims to know a lot about Gray Wolf Island. When he agrees to go with Ruby to find it (even though he kind of invited himself), he also brings along two others – Charlie, who claims to know how and where he is going to die in a vision that he had, and Gabe, who is the miracle son of a virgin. While Ruby isn’t okay with sharing this treasure hunt – one she promised to her sister – with three boys, she also wonders what Sadie would say if she knew that she would be going on a trip to Gray Wolf Island with three hot guys. So she decides that she’ll do it.

  When Anne, a girl who never sleeps and has a knowledge of boats, joins in with them to go on the treasure hunt, the five of them set off to locate a treasure that has been a legend for decades.

  “‘I think the island’s tormenting him. I don’t think it wants us to find the treasure.’ Anne bites her lip. ‘That makes sense,’ she says. ‘It wouldn’t keep it hidden if it wanted it found.'”

  When they reach Gray Wolf Island, strange things start to happen – and Gabe claims that the Island has been talking to him, telling the others that there is no way the island will let them have the treasure as long as they all have secrets that they’re keeping – secrets that can change the way others look at them.

  When Gabe’s secret is revealed and they continue to look for the treasure, everything gets much darker, causing them to uncover truths that they had kept hidden for years.

  As they decipher the poem that Ruby found in an old Treasure Island book, and keep looking for the treasure, they form close friendships and endure things that they hadn’t expected.

  “‘Can you really know someone without knowing the one horrible thing that defines who they are or who they become?'”

  I love the fact that Gray Wolf Island centers around not only treasure, but the characters coming to terms with things that they have done in the past that they are ashamed of – guilt that they’ve been living with for ages. Although some of them were friends and others weren’t at the beginning of the book, after they have shared secrets with each other and spent time working on this treasure hunt together, I love seeing how their lives connect to each other’s little by little as time passes. I really do love a good book that has a strong focus on friendship, and Gray Wolf Island really brings that theme home.

  The atmosphere of the island is dark, dreary, and fits well with the whole dark secrets theme I mentioned earlier. Although I think there could have been a tad bit more world building, I was still able to paint a nice picture of the island in my mind while reading – from the ocean rushing up against the shores to the caves the characters find themselves going through.

  I wasn’t really sure I was going to like all of the characters, but they all had their own voices, and while the main story is told from Ruby’s point of view, I felt like we really got to know the rest of them, too. I loved Ruby’s character, as well as Elliott’s. They clashed and fit well together at the same time, if that makes sense. Their dialogue and goofy banter throughout the main part of the book really made this interesting.

  I say the main story, because there is also a little side story going on from another character’s point of view from some time ago – almost little snippets of a memory getting put back together little by little. These chapters were helpful, and while I thought I had figured things about them out, it turns out I was wrong. The mystery here is really brilliant, and I’m so glad that it threw me for a loop.

  Gray Wolf Island was such a suspenseful mystery that had a lot of different elements going on that made the book so good. The conversations between the characters, the way the author talked about the island practically coming to life, and the strange quirks that the characters all had really made this something special.

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