It’s been bringing tourists to Shoak Village in their droves for years. But things take a dark turn when a local girl disappears suddenly, and the wolves are accused of attacking her. Overnight, an order is put out to kill them on sight. So, when Rory brings his dad’s big, strange-looking comb into class five years later, his teacher Miss Hudson calls the police. It’s definitely a Skidderwolf comb – but why would Rory’s dad have it? Rory discovers his dad has secretly been hiding the wolves all these years, trying to keep them safe, believing them to have been falsely accused. But before he can explain more, his dad is arrested, leaving Rory and his best friend to keep the wolves hidden, all by themselves. Only someone is watching them, and now both they and the wolves are in danger...

Ciara O’Connor is a lecturer from Dundalk, where she lives with her family. She has worked as an advertising copywriter and as a reviewer for Inis magazine. She won the Caterpillar Poetry Prize in 2023, judged by Michael Rosen, and was longlisted for the Staŕog debut fiction prize for The Skidderwolves in the same year.

Sarah Horne is an award-winning illustrator from the UK. She studied art at Falmouth College and gained a masters at Kingston University.