Wolf by Wolf

Wolf by Wolf (2015) is the first title in an alternative history series by young adult author Ryan Graudin. The first book in the series was named an Amazon Book of the Year and also made the list of Huffington Post’s Top Ten Young Adult Books of the Year. The sequel, entitled Blood for Blood (2016), covers events that take place shortly after the end of Wolf by Wolf. The short fiction title Iron to Iron (2016) takes place a year prior to the events of Wolf by Wolf and explores the original relationship between Luka Löwe and Adele Wolfe. Graudin has also written other young adult fiction titles unrelated to this series, including The Walled City (2014) and Invictus (2018). All page citations in this guide are taken from the Kindle edition of this book.

Told using limited, third-person narration through the eyes of concentration camp survivor Yael, Wolf by Wolf takes place in an alternate historical world in which the Nazis and Japan won the Second World War. The events it describes take place from March through April 1956, with flashbacks to earlier events occurring between 1944 and 1955. 

Plot Summary

Wolf by Wolf recounts the tale of the Axis Tour—a grueling motorcycle race from Germany to Japan. In 1955, a female biker named Adele Wolfe won the race and, as a special honor, danced with Hitler at the ensuing Victor’s Ball. The resistance forces plan to substitute a double for Adele in the 1956 race. The double’s name is Yael. If she can win the Axis Tour, she will meet Hitler at the Victor’s Ball and be physically close enough to assassinate him. Yael’s desperate quest to win the race and to shoot the Führer allows the book to explore the themes of deceptive appearances, the nature of identity, and the danger of becoming as corrupt as the enemy one fights.

As the story begins, six-year-old Yael is being transported to a concentration camp with her mother and sister. Yael is immediately selected to be a test subject for experiments to change her Jewish appearance to match the blond-haired, blue-eyed Aryan ideal. The injections are painful and traumatic, but they leave Yael with the unexpected ability to shapeshift at will.

After escaping from the camp, Yael becomes a member of the resistance movement trying to topple the Nazi regime. By the time she is 17, she has grown adept at combat and spycraft. Knowing that Adele Wolfe will once again compete in the Axis Tour, Yael volunteers to take her place and win the race. Such a victory will guarantee close physical proximity to Hitler at the subsequent Victor’s Ball. There, Yael plans to kill the dictator.

Nothing goes quite as planned when Yael is confronted with Adele’s overprotective twin brother and her handsome competitor Luka Löwe. Yael finds herself attracted to both men and has difficulty bluffing her way through Adele’s history with them. After a grueling race that nearly costs Yael her life, she loses but is still given a chance to attend the ball with Luka. While there, Yael succeeds in shooting Hitler only to discover that she has killed a shapeshifter impersonating the Führer. Despite this error, the assassination sparks a global resurgence of resistance to the Nazis. The further adventures of Yael, Luka, and Felix are described in the sequel, Blood for Blood.