I was very pleasantly surprised about how much I liked this novel, considering that I usually turn my nose up at middle grade fiction (and if I do happen to take the time to read one, I get immense enjoyment from picking apart the various inconsistencies or annoying plotholes.) But to my slight chagrin there was nothing to pick apart in this book. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Part of that may be due to the fact that I know a bit about Russian culture and it was fun to notice the little refrences to that - like all the wolves names; Veter- wind, Potok- stream, Grom - thunder, Zima - winter, Leto - summer: you get the idea. I also love stories with Baba Yaga cause it's always interesting to see the different directions authors choose to take with her as a character. Anyway, the ending of this book tied together very nicely in a very satisfying way and there were some good twists. Maybe this is the beginning of like my second middle grade era??