Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

Vivian Gandillon is a werewolf. That is, she’s a sixteen-year-old human girl. And she’s a wolf. And not just any wolf, but the daughter of the pack’s alpha pair. She, too, is destined to become a leader. Yet she is so tired of the fighting among the wolves—and it is pretty vicious stuff. She wonders if it would be better to explore her human nature with Aiden, a boy who is enchanted with the idea of wolves. With the reality, though?

While Vivian is deciding whether she should reveal her true nature to Aiden, a werewolf is killing locals. Vivian can’t remember doing the killing, but she keeps finding evidence that she is the culprit.

High school housekeeping: There are several reasons that Blood and Chocolate has held up as a good YA read. Throughout the novel, Vivian is unsure about her place in the wolf pack. But there are times when she must enter the extremes of her wolf nature to defend herself and her mother. The scenes, both among the wolves and between Aiden and Vivian were very edgy when the book was published—this is a sensuous book, the sort of thing we see more often now. But best of all is that the ending is a surprise. Not your usual ‘I’m in love with an alien species’ denouement. Try it.