Swearwolves by Steve Worland

It is two months since Luna Wilkinson and her family have moved to a house with a spooky forest at the bottom of the garden. A new area means a new school and 12-year-old Luna has a plan to break into the tight knit friendship groups by taking part in the school vampire musical ‘Bite Me'. She doesn’t currently have any friends so needs to bribe her younger brother to help her learn her lines. The price is to practise soccer with him and when the ball disappears into the scary forest Luna must retrieve it. In the forest she is bitten by something and what follows is bizarre. Luna thinks swearing is not cool, just an indication the swearer can’t think of a more interesting word, but that evening at home it starts, involuntary, intermittent swearing she can’t control. (The swear words are redacted). The only control she has is to stop speaking, not a good start to preparation for an audition. To make matters worse, at school Vivian Dally-Watkins and her cohort of musical hopefuls warn Luna off auditioning in no uncertain terms. Luna doesn’t give up, she decides to research the swearing phenomenon at the library, find out how to lift the curse and still ace the audition for the musical despite the bullying girls. All doesn't go to plan but in doing so she makes a friend, uncovers bigger adversaries and finds the power to defeat them.

I was a bit worried about this book when I read on the back that the curse 'forces her to blurt out every swear word in the dictionary' with its uncomfortable association with Tourette’s syndrome. I am still not sure about it but the story is great, cleverly plotted and unpredictable with a balance of fun and scary bits, writing which will extend vocabulary, lots of action and a brave central character.

Themes: Adventure, Being cursed, School bullying.

Sue Speck