ALA Booklist (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2005)

Shusterman follows up Dread Locks (2005), a present-day retelling of the Medusa legend, with a clever twist on Little Red Riding Hood. The heroine becomes Red Rider, a 16-year-old boy who lives in a rough neighborhood terrorized by werewolves. His grandmother is a former hippie who turns out to be a werewolf hunter, prowling the streets in leather on a black Harley Davidson. Add a little romance, betrayal of all sorts, and Red Rider's lovingly restored red Mustang convertible, and you have a plot full of twists and turns, sure to appeal to fans of Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak series. Although character development is minimal and the prose lacks polish, this will draw plenty of interest from reluctant readers, particularly those who might scorn Donna Jo Napoli's more sophisticated fairy-tale retellings.

Horn Book (Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2006)

With Grandma's help, Red Rider fights the werewolves terrorizing his neighborhood. This thinly disguised tale of urban gangs, a blend of fairy tale and legend, doesn't simplify the conflict between morality and belonging. Well-paced tension balances flat characterization in this sequel to Dread Locks.

Kirkus Reviews

Shusterman's second Dark Fusion outing follows Dread Locks (April 15, 2005) in adding folktale elements to a contemporary teen horror tale. Here, 16-year-old Red finds himself wrestling with conflicting loyalties after he joins the Wolves, a werewolf street gang, as a spy for his werewolf-hunter Grandma. Set on fictional mean streets (one significant encounter takes place at the corner of Andersen and Grimm) and featuring a melting pot cast that includes the Crypts, a rival gang of female vampire shape-changers led by Red's former babysitter, this page-turner winds briskly into a suspenseful battle beneath the full moon, and ends with multiple twists. Fine fare for a solitary evening's reading, and middle range on the gruesomeness scale. (Fantasy. YA)

School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up-This is the second book in a series that melds fairy tales, myths, and legends. When readers first meet Red, he is riding to Grandma's house in his newly refurbished red Mustang. Already, it's clear that this is not the fairy tale they heard when they were little. Red arrives at Grandma's, delivering some "bread" (money), and when he gets there, he is confronted by a member of a gang called the Wolves. Grandma has been thrown in the basement, the Wolves take her bread, and the chaos begins. Soon, Red finds out that the gang members are actually werewolves who change when the full moon rises, and he's surprised to discover that his grandmother is a werewolf hunter, determined to eliminate them. At first, Red and his friend Marissa join forces with her, but problems arise when he infiltrates the gang to gather information and begins to feel a bond with them. Ultimately, it is his confusion about which side he is really on that could be his downfall. This installment in the series would be best for younger YAs as older teens might miss the good old-fashioned blood and guts that they look for in werewolf stories. The inclusion of a rival girl gang of vampires adds little to the story, but Red's journey is fast paced and suspenseful.-Kimberly L. Paone, Elizabeth Public Library, NJ Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Voice of Youth Advocates

They call him "Red Rider," a nickname that has stuck with him from his Radio Flyer wagon days through to his blood-red Mustang days. Sixteen-year-old Red has some "bread" (a bag of cash) to deliver to his grandmother, but when he arrives at her house, he is ambushed by a notorious gang known as the Wolves. These guys really are wolves, at least when the moon is full. It turns out that Grandma is actually an experienced werewolf hunter and has been tracking down werewolves for decades. Red and his new girlfriend, Marissa, quickly dedicate themselves to helping Grandma destroy the dangerous gang. But when Red's secret strategy to infiltrate the Wolves backfires, they all find themselves in true danger of a fate worse than death. This book is the second in Shusterman's Dark Fusion series, an appealing blend of folklore, horror, and humor that follows Dread Locks (Dutton, 2005/VOYA June 2005). Red is trademark Shusterman: bold, good-hearted, quick thinking, and hilarious. And Shusterman pulls out all the stops in his running folklore gags. For example, one of the busiest intersections in Red's "hood" is at Andersen and Grimm. The plot takes some convoluted turns, but, hey, this is wild and crazy fantasy. Recommend it for teens who like a little edge on their fairy tales.-Diane Emge.