SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater
Chapters 37-39: Sam and Grace
Sam rushes downstairs to see Grace pinned to the cabinets by Shelby, in wolf form. The moment Grace sees him, she cries out to him. Sam grabs a skillet and hits Shelby in the hip. She turns and snarls, in her eyes Sam sees the flash of her plan: Grace dying on the kitchen floor while Shelby watches. Sam jumps at her, grabbing her wind pipe, just like Mr. Dario’s dogs, and pins her to the floor. Behind him he hears Grace call out a warning to her dad, then an explosion happens close by. Shelby falls out of Sam’s grip; shot. Sam looks at his arms and sees blood. He flashes back to his parents counting back from three, and somewhere far off he hears Grace call for her parents to help her move him someplace warm.
At the hospital, Grace has explained to her parents what Sam’s parents did to him. Grace’s mother expresses her concern that Sam could become unstable someday, and that maybe Grace shouldn’t see him. Grace says not a chance, and her mother gives up easily. When Sam comes back in, he admits that he doesn’t feel bad about Shelby being dead. Grace and Sam both get rabies shots, because neither of them are going to tell the hospital what was really going on with the wolf. After the shots, the nurse is called away to a female patient going crazy in another room.
The next day, Sam feels exhausted from fighting his almost-change the day before, and Grace tries to finish her homework; but they end up talking about how werewolves came into being. When Grace’s dad comes home, she asks what he did with the body. He tells her he moved it to the porch, and assumes it’s gone because someone called animal control. Grace said she didn’t and her mother is never that on the ball. Sam and Grace realize that Shelby must be alive.
Memorable Quotes:
“Grace. I held on to that one name. If I kept that in my head, I would be okay. Grace.” (237)
“But what if-I asked you not to see him?’ I hadn’t expected that. My voice was brittle. ‘I would say that by virtue of your not acting parental up to this point, you’ve relinquished your ability to wield any power now. Sam and I are together. It’s not an option” (239)
“Grace persisted, ‘Tell me, then. Is it science? Or magic? What you are?’ ‘Does it matter which?’ ‘Of course,’ she said, and her voice was frustrated. ‘Magic would be intangible. Science has cures. Haven’t you ever wondered how it all started?” (244)
Questions for consideration
How did Sam stop himself from changing?
What does Grace hope to find out about a cure? Do you think there is one?
More here.
