What They're Saying About Wolf Boy:

"Kuhlman presents the family's reactions with a deft combination of black humor and pathos that is always pulling itself up just short of bathetic sentimentality -- while allowing us frequent glimpses into those pink sticky depths... The novel's unique feature is Stephen's strongest sublimation of his grief: a comic book called "The Adventures of Wolf Boy," which Stephen begins to write as a sort of evasion during grief counseling and on which he later collaborates with Nicole... Stephen uses this device to transfer his family, friends, and their problem of loss into a parallel universe -- where magical solutions should, presumably, be possible... Technically ambitious and emotionally sincere, Wolf Boy remains an impressive debut. Along with his ingenuity of concept, Kuhlman knows how to be sweet without being cloying -- a gift that very few writers can claim." -- Madison Smartt Bell, The Boston Globe, July 16, 2006

"Wolf Boy" is a touching, intimate novel about a family dealing with death. What makes it notable is how it blends prose and a graphic novel... and how the author deftly handles very different people reacting to a tragedy in very different ways... In his debut novel, Kuhlman not only shows versatility and prowess handling the challenges of blending two artistic forms, but also sympathy and insight into how death affects those left behind. Most to his credit, he finds the profound in life's quiet moments and the humor that helps ease the pain life inevitably dishes out." --Tampa Tribune, April 30, 2006

"In this dysfunctional family tale, happiness escapes the characters in a "slow, persistent leak" as Kuhlman wryly dissects seemingly innocent moments, like Stephen's assumption that the stranger on the phone is a telemarketer and not the messenger of his older brother's death. Stephen, more or less at the center of the book, channels his grief into stories for a comic called The Adventures of Wolf Boy, illustrated by his charmingly odd girlfriend, Nicole, and woven beautifully throughout the novel... Offers inventive twists on the story of a boy trying to save his own world." --Publishers Weekly

"Novice writer Evan Kuhlman has come up with a novel brimming with pathos and clear-eyed sentiment... The great thing about this book is how real and sympathetic Kuhlman makes all the characters. Despite their weaknesses and faults, he follows the lives of each in a fashion that shows remarkable powers of observation, and turning these powers into detailed and rich portraits... In less talented hands, this novel could easily have gone mawkish or over-sentimental; instead, it staunchly stands up for life and surviving." -- The Philippine Star, May 7, 2006

"This book is full of tragedy, but also of hope and humor. It feels real, in a way that so few books do anymore. It's not just a good read, it's a tangible experience. You know these people. Or maybe you are, or were, these people. And even though it's an impossible task for one person to save the world at large, Stephen is a great reminder of how we can make a choice to save our own private worlds, even when we're dealt a shitty hand." -- Charleston City Paper, July 5, 2006

"In clumsier hands, the interlacing of traditional and graphic novels could have felt like a gimmick, or, at best, a redundant distraction from the main body of the story. But Wolf Boy the comic may be the most enjoyable and gripping part of Wolf Boy the novel — this is no small feat, as the book maintains a calm, reflective distance from the chaos it depicts, rendering that rarest of literary birds: a story about death that neither uplifts in a chintzy attempt to keep its audience happy, nor relentlessly depresses its readers in a bloodyminded attempt to impress with the depth of its sorrow." -- Flak Magazine June 2006

"Wry, complex, and entertaining, (Wolf Boy) is a strong first novel by a writer by bound to make the bestseller lists." --Genre Magazine, May 2006. They gave Wolf Boy an 'A' grade.

"Kuhlman can write embarrassingly well. His prose is perfectly pitched to capture the suburbs and the times. Set in 1993... Kuhlman etches the concerns of those times with precision and empathy. But of course, the other etchings in the novel are of great import... You might well fear that such a combination of prose text and graphic novel could distance you from the story being told in both formats, but that's not the case here. Kuhlman manages to get them to compliment, not combat one another." --The Agony

"Wolf Boy is a small story about ordinary lives that feels much bigger. This is due in part to its epic superhero story; however, it also has a great deal to do with the way that Kuhlman takes the universal experience of a death in the family and makes it intensely personal. Helen rankles when a counselor tells her about the five stages in grief, offended that her response to Francis’s death could be so predictable. Yet, as events play out in the book, Helen’s actions become anything but predictable. By teasing out the mundane details of the Harrelson family’s everyday life, Kuhlman draws attention to what makes all loss the same, and all loss different." -- Pop Matters, November 3, 2006

"Wolf Boy is refreshing because it's organic -- inventing its methods, genre and attitudes about reality. There is a sustained commitment and clarity, while the reader is engaged with his or her own sympathies and understandings about death." -- Cincinnati CityBeat, June 28, 2006

"To make sense of it all, (Stephen) starts channeling his grief and confusion into a comic book he creates with his girlfriend, Nicole, in which Wolf Boy (a stand-in for Stephen) and his family members battle evildoers––like the man driving the truck that hit Francis’s car. If the comic book interludes are metaphorically obvious, they’re still a nice touch––they capture the ways in which adolescent boys fantasize, and underscore just how much Stephen has to work through. (The illustrations, moreover, by the brothers Fraim, possess all the energy of a good superhero comic.).... Kuhlman’s a fine stylist with an excellent eye and ear."--Kirkus Reviews

"Yes, it's very sad to see this family slowly fall apart, and the parents are especially painful figures to follow. But it's also hard not to root for Stephen to make it though the hard times and realize happiness with Nicole. There's a lot of gentle humor and sweetness that never gets cloying, and Kuhlman's simple, straightforward prose sets just the right tone. A very solid first novel about a very tough topic, skillfully handled. If you like Mark Jude Poirier, John McNally, or Tom Perotta, check this out." -- mostlyfiction.com June 4, 2006

"Personal and family tragedy is possibly the greatest and quickest of all behavioral catalysts - and when the tragedy takes the "prized son," something which Stephen is more and more obviously not, actions and reactions only grow more polarized. The worse things get, the more interested we become - couple that with Stephen finding an appropriate and surprisingly mature coping device and Kuhlman has created one of the most enjoyably readable and deftly engrossing new novels I've come across." -- darkbutshining.com September 20, 2006

"In one of the most blazingly original bursts of creative brilliance I have seen in quite some time, first-time novelist Evan Kuhlman has combined the literary family-grief story (think Ordinary People without the downer ending) with the superhero comic in his debut, Wolf Boy.... Kuhlman combines the best parts of John Irving, Jonathan Lethem, and Jonathan Franzen. This semi-autobiographical tale (Kuhlman lost his own brother at a young age) charms and delights; Kuhlman has managed to focus on a sad subject without making it depressing. The comic was a terrific idea, and watching how it parallels the novel's story is a wonder." -- Craig's Book Club, June 2006

"The graphic novel illustrations dispersed throughout the novel... are windows into Stephen's innocent (and yet brilliant) understanding of his shattered world... While tragedy drives the novel, its language and imagery force us to take a glance at it through the eyes of a child, one who sees only beauty in the face of a fucked up world." -- Current Magazine, June 2006

"Wolf Boy explores death and loss in all is facets, from receiving death certificates to fissuring a marriage to mild hallucinations of the dearly departed... It also speaks of the power of comics as a means of escapist fantasy, an aspect too often taken for granted in the medium itself. Although comics are only one theme in the story, Kuhlman reveals their curative nature through Stephen’s efforts and shows that they can be purifying not only for kids, but for whoever needs them." -- Silver Bullet Comics webzine, May 24, 2006

"This is not a traditional graphic novel, but rather a novel with graphic embellishments that enhance the main plot and help us to see things more clearly from Stephen's point of view... Brendon and Brian Fraim's fine graphic artwork really brought Stephen and Nicole's comic book to life... This is a well-told story about how each person must find his or her footing as they go through all the stages of grief." -- Sequential Tart, a comic book e-zine (April 2006)

"Rarely is the pain of losing someone expressed with such directness, energy, and yes, humor. The grief in Evan Kuhlman's Wolf Boy is palpable, and so is the flawed, honest humanity of his characters. Here is real loss and somehow, real catharsis." --Peter Orner, author of The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo

“Wolf Boy is absolutely beguiling. Evan Kuhlman has boundless empathy for all his characters [and his wonderful protagonist Stephen is, in turn, boundlessly inventive. The graphic elements of this novel give us a terrific window into Stephen's worldview.] This is an auspicious debut.”--Valerie Sayers, author of Brain Fever

"An air of sweet sorrow mixed with hope suffuses Evan Kuhlman’s remarkable first novel... Stephen Harrelson, the 13-year-old middle child who pens the graphic novel Wolf Boy within Kuhlman’s larger opus, is one of the most engaging adolescents to grace the pages of American fiction in a very long time." --Eric Goodman, author of Child of My Right Hand