This was a beautifully done children’s novel, it had everything that I was hoping for in this type of book. The characters worked well and had everything that I was hoping for. I enjoyed the concept a lot and thought it worked overall. Marta Palazzesi has a great writing style that left me wanting more.

Clay, a mud lark in 1880 London, spends his time with Tod and Nucky digging in the mud washed up from the Thames River to sell for needed food and supplies. A circus comes to town, proclaiming they have the last wolf in England, and Clay has to find out if it is true. He sneaks into the circus where he meets Ollie, the didcoy's (fortune teller of Romany descent) granddaughter, who shows him the wolf. Not only that, Clay gest to watch Hiram and his father abuse the wolf in an attempt to tame him, but Clay, recognizing a kindred spirit in Mist, the wolf, can't stand for it. He becomes determined to befriend and free the wolf. This distances him from Tod and Nucky and his adoptive father, Old Sal, but he can't let the idea go. Adventures abound with fights with other mud lark gangs, running factory workers trying to kidnap mud larks to put them in factories to work, getting notice by Hiram and his gang, and trying to get Mist out of London. The historic setting draws readers into Clay's world and his character and heart lead him through every struggle he faces, even if it means upsetting the only family he has. Highlighting the abuse circus animals faced, and some of the abuse that Mist suffers, can be hard to read, but the ending can bring hope that things cna change if you follow your heart.