The wolves of Greycoat Hall by Lucinda Gifford

Walker Books, 2020. ISBN: 9781760651596. 224pp.
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Deciding where to go for their next holiday, the Greycoats of Morovia are startled to find that wolves are being reintroduced into Scotland. With Scottish paintings on their walls, they know they have a family link and so decide to catch the train as soon as they can and make their way to Scotland, where the last wolves were seen in 1680. Once in Aberdeen they spy a castle and ask to visit it. They would love to buy it for themselves, but the price is more than they can afford, and beside which a developer  has offered to buy it to build a group of expensive villas to attract the wealthy to this quaint village by the sea.
The local conservation society is appalled at this plan but apart from putting together a petition, seems there is little they can do. The developer plans to dig up the sand so destroying birds' nests, raze much of the castle, pull down trees and build a helipad for the rich to arrive. All sounds gross and the Greycoats agree. Boris is reading a history of his family and notices the similarity between the castle in the book with the one where they are staying, so saves the day, revealing it to be a place of significance and therefore to be protected.
A funny look at a wolf family overcoming prejudices against their kind and proving that wolves do indeed belong in Scotland, and saving an historic site and protecting a bird colony as well.
Themes: Wolves, Humour, Scotland, Conservation, Heritage.
Fran Knight