Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me

Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me, by Kristen Chandler
 
This novel is set in Montana shortly after wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. Sixteen-year-old KJ Carson, a bit of a loner, lives with her widowed father just outside the park. She helps her dad run his fishing supply store and is his assistant guide in the park. As part of her journalism class she works on the school newspaper, and when dashing Virgil moves to town with his biologist mother, who studies wolves and their packs, KJ teams up with Virgil, a photographer, to launch a "Wolf Notes" column. The column triggers outrage among local ranching families who are sure that wolves are a menace to their sheep and cattle. Relations with town members turn ugly when Virgil is shot at in the Christmas parade, and soon after someone starts a fire at KJ's father's store. There is a lot going on here with romance, politics, father-daughter issues and conservation/ecology issues. The plot moves quickly to a suspenseful finish and should appeal to conservationists of all kinds.
-Beth