Perfect for the up coming spooky months. I would love to see a whole series of the wolf adventures going forward but it was a complete story on it's own that was very good. The character development with the family relationships was nice to see, but I would have liked to dig deeper into some of the points there.

I love what Stephens has done with the lore here. Not only do we have a unique approach to vampires, we have a solid representation of race relations. Visually interesting and easy enough to read.

5 stars. This graphic novel was so wholesome and fun. I hope there are more because I loved Artie's story and I loved all the relationships she formed throughout. Review to come.

Artie Irvin knows she’s different. She’s not the sort to keep her head in the clouds but keep her heart in taking her camera out and photographing the world and getting to develop the film that captures her life’s views. She tries to blend into the background and stay out of the thick of things but fails; she sticks out like a sore thumb to the worst people in all the wrong ways. She’s almost like a Black girl out of time, and she can’t figure out why. This kid is always in the wrong place, and she hates it. All she’s got in this world is her widowed mother, and they live in rural Oregon.

One fateful night she spots a massive wolf―then watches it throw on a bathrobe and transform into her mom! Mom is a werewolf which means so is Artie. Mom has been waiting for the “right time” to share their family’s lineage, calling for a road trip back home, a place where her mother never thought she’d return to. Artie is beyond thrilled, which means there’s good and bad. She gets to figure out her own wolf-like abilities with a community, and she also learns about the story of her late father and the big evil behind the big trauma in her life: Vampires!

Stephens weaves several big themes into this marvelous narrative―the need for community, the desire to figure out who you are in the weird phase of puberty and growing up, and how inter-generational healing can come in waves, so the story doesn’t always stop at trauma. Add to this narrative majesty that this is a story of a queer, pre-teen Black girl who ends up having a crush on a new friend, and that aspect of the story does not evolve into sad, humiliating plot territory.

Artie and the Wolf Moon explores not just this Black mother-daughter dynamic, but this community and the other Black Werewolf families that Artie’s mom introduces her to. It was just so delightful I had to pause several times to wipe my eyes. It is utterly beautiful and illuminating to see so many Black folks on the page, all of which are interesting characters with personalities, truths, and expressions. Every character is multi-dimensional and never falls flat and only adds to the story’s richness, which is at least half the cost of admission here, folks.

Stephens’ artwork here is both a thrill to look at and connect with. And look…you never know what book you need until it is one about a Black preteen girl who has a werewolf lineage sitting at home in her satin bonnet. My heart! Stephen has also played up light and color in her comics and other illustrative work so well that it makes sense that Artie and the other Black characters never, ever look washed out or forgotten on the pages. Even though much of the action takes place at night, and as day makes way for dusk, the werewolf transformation sequences are always new, fresh, and dope to look at. And given that the big baddies in the book are vampires, it is so interesting to see their contrast—how they blend in, fight, and terrorize generation after generation.

At 256 pages, this graphic novel effectively fills out a full story that ends with closure and a lot of heart. Paced well with all the right emotional beats, this book will be adored by the middle-grade age group by those eager readers looking for more Black girls in their graphic novels. The author has been quoted as saying that “the book is about family, community-building, making mistakes, and facing your fears” if you’re on board for that, be sure to purchase it when available in your area!

Artie and The Wolf Moon is a beautiful, coming-of-age tale that we don’t see often and should see more of. If you love your stories about queer Black girls learning about the world with a heavy dose of family and growing up along with a supernatural twist—this one is for you.

After sneaking out and watching her mother, Artie is surprised and excited to discover she is from a line of werewolves. As Artie figures out her newfound abilities, various family join in to help.

Olivia Stephens’ Artie and the Wolf Moon is a fantastic LGBTQ+ affirming, supernatural graphic novel for tweens. It’s a tale of family and support, of love and loss, and of finding and being true to oneself.

Artie and the Wolf Moon is a fantastic coming of age graphic novel. Artie is a teen with a love for photography, then she finds out her mom is a lycanthrope. Teen life just got weirder.
I really enjoyed a take on werewolf lore that I'd never really heard before, which was amazing, and the vampire lore is a new one as well. The artwork is very well done and, given there are plenty of night scenes, are not colored too dark. Artie's family gave me the warm fuzzies and while I was thrilled for a love interest sub-plot, I didn't feel it quite worked they way the author hoped. Overall, great story and really fabulous graphic novel!

Dark and spooky in the best way! I've got my fingers crossed that this is a series opener. I want to see what happens with Artie and her friends and family next.

I'm not sure why but this just kept falling under my radar as something I have to read.
And I was missing out on a fantastic werewolf graphic novel, some amazing characters. Watching Artie grow and find her place was fun.

I also enjoyed that this wasn't just about blood family, but also that found family is just as important.

This book was so interesting that I want to share it with everyone.

i can't overstate enough that this is one of my favorite graphic novel reads of the year! it's rare to read a story about werewolves that centers family above all, especially as thoughtfully as Artie and the Wolf Moon does. artie and her mother's relationship is front-and-center throughout the novel, but one of the most skillful parts of the novel is how, as the reader, our perspective is largely restrained to artie's view, so when she's acting out against her mother or lashing out against her friends, it's understandable! we see the exact trajectory of her emotions right up and until they boil over and, though the reader likely isn't a werewolf, it's such a universal and relatable feeling that artie feels isolated from her peers and that she's not sure that her mother understands her, even with the secret they share. on the other side of the coin, we can also see artie's mother struggle to raise a child in complete isolation from her community because she wants to keep her safe, which is derived from her lived trauma of losing her husband. the character writing in this is stunning, the art uses colors so skillfully, and i got teary on multiple occasions just seeing the characters come together to support one another.

An 8th grader discovers that she comes from a family of werewolves and joins the battle against the vampire coven that killed her father.

Expressive artwork brings to life a story of a young woman finding her place in her community. Though a high stakes fantasy plot forms the central conflict, the core of the novel is the bonds of parents and children and familial love in general. The protagonist and her family are Black, which will contribute much-needed diversity to graphic novel and middle grade fantasy collections. I recommend purchasing this book for middle school and public library juvenile collections.

This comic was so unoriginal it was painful to finish it, I was bored the whole time I was reading it and honestly I don’t recommend it.

Artie is a normal young girl who loves photography and is bullied on school, one day she disobey her mother leaving the house at night on a full moon and discovers that her mother is in fact a werewolf and wait, she’s one too.
They travel to some weird town full of werewolves where Artie can learn better about being one, she also discover that vampires are real and the bad guys.

Honestly I’ve read this plot on books and comics so many times, imagine how tired I’m. There’s absolutely nothing original about it, it’s so full of cliches poorly done.

The only thing I actually liked was the representation, Artie and her family are all poc and she falls in love with a girl ( I got a little confused at that because I thought she was her cousin? or related to her somehow, but it was never really explain the relationship between Artie’s mother and Maise’s father so I don’t really know,)

The art is not bad but it wasn’t one of my favorites, I just felt like some of the traces were weird, it seemed like it was done very rushed.

I loved this graphic novel so much. Artie and the Wolf Moon is a great coming-of-age story about Artie becoming the wolf that is inside of her and finding herself. This story is as much about the character development of Artie as it is about her mother, Loretta. They both go through a transition of accepting their fate and their life and moving forward. This is a great read for middle grade and teen readers.

Growing pains, bullying, loss of a loved one, family, self-acceptance, violence. These are just some of the themes that are present in this story.

This is fantastic. A super quick and enjoyable read. It's been nominated as to the quick pick for reluctant readers list, and I think it definitely deserves it. I'm excited to see a print copy.

this graphic novel did not disappoint! i've been reading an increasing number of comics to balance out my own prose reading, and this was another gem! full of mythological references (which i'm always here for) and a kickass main character, i would highly recommend this (criminally underrated) book to any seasoned or beginner comic reader.

I can't wait to have a physical copy in my hands to read. This was everything. It's cute for one and the story has all of my favorite things; werewolves, vampires, family drama and even a little love story woven in.

Perfect for anyone who like middle grade graphic novels, supernatural things and stories of lovely found families.

Absolutely adorable and fun! The graphics are well done and I love the family Dynamic in this ! Will read again around October for some Halloween werewolf vibes!

Artie has never felt like she belongs, particularly not as the only Black girl in her all-white rural Oregon town. The only thing that keeps her grounded is photography, particularly while using her late dad’s camera and his equipment—and the other are the strange rules her mother imposes on her, like never leaving the house at night. But one night, the moon is just too full and gorgeous, and Artie sneaks out to take some pictures—and runs into a wolf! Scrambling to get away, she is shocked when the wolf runs up to their back porch and…tugs on a bathrobe? So turns out there are some secrets in Artie’s family tree, but wolves and human bullies are the worst of her concerns. That would be the vampires.

Okay, that’s a wild synopsis right there, but lemme tell you that this was just fantastic. I loved it.

There is so much Black history seamlessly wrapped into the werewolf mythos, and the sense of family and community and moving past the hurts of old history to find something new. And there’s the wonderful exploration of discovering your own power with people who are just like you in every way.

And, of course, the idea of friendship. Artie, a girl who has always wanted to belong but never did, finds herself making two new friends: the werewolf daughter of her mom’s childhood friend who lives too far away, and the new girl in school, who is impossibly cool (and a little pushy).

With budding teenage rebellion and growing independence, Artie explores her world and finds herself walking into a trap that had been laid for years—and few ways out.

Like I said, it’s so good! Very quick, and the artwork is just *chef’s kiss* perfection.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Artie and the Wolf Moon releases September 7, 2021, from Graphic Universe.

A very unique and refreshing take on the common trope of werewolves versus vampires. The story of Artie, her immediate family and the discovery of her mythical creature family is touching and will definitely resonate with readers.

This was a fantastic graphic novel, I loved how the mythologies of werewolves and vampires were used in this story. I really enjoyed Artie as a main character, and her mom and extended wolf family were really great as well. I liked that everyone had flaws and did some growing throughout this book. The themes of racism, grief, and feeling like an outsider were woven into the main story nicely.

Even though this is marked as middle grade, this is one that straddles the border of YA so it would make for a great read for anyone in either age group (and adults of course!).

Not to long after sneaking out late at night, something her mother has always warned her about, and seeing a huge wolf change into her mother, Artie must come to terms with her own wolf side. Artie gets her mom now to talk about everything she never would including her late father.

This was a really good book with awesome graphics. It has loads of action and suspense you could cut with a knife. This will be appealing to many with the paranormal mixed in seamlessly with life as we know it. I think this would be a good addition to any collection.

This review will appear on my blog on Sept. 7th.