Guest post written by Hear Her Howl author Kim DeRose
Kim DeRose is the author of For Girls Who Walk through Fire, which received a starred review from School Library Journal, praise from Kirkus Reviews and Booklist, and was selected for ALA’s 2025 Rise: A Feminist Book Project list. She grew up in Santa Barbara, California, earned her MFA in film directing from UCLA, and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY as a recovering Catholic and ex-good girl. When she’s not writing or reading, she can be found listening to endless podcasts, taking long walks through the woods (of Prospect Park), and teaching her children how to howl. You can visit her at kimderose.com.
About Hear Her Howl: As fiercely feminist as it is hopeful, this speculative, sapphic YA romance from the author of For Girls Who Walk through Fire is simultaneously a modern-day war cry and a PSA that there is a wolf who slumbers inside us all—we only have to wake her.
If there is one thing that we should all be going in the year of our lord, 2025, it’s staying wild. And what do I mean by that? Am I proposing we all turn into wolves? Honestly, that would be amazing but no. It’s time we stopped listening to the external voices telling us who and what we should be, what is and is not proper, whom we’re allowed to love, how we’re allowed to live. And it’s time we start listening to the quiet howl within. That we rediscover the self that has been there all along. It’s time we own our wild.
However, embarking on this internal journey is best done with a pack, so I hope you will consider the below books (along with Hear Her Howl) as your virtual wolf pack, encouraging you to stay wild every step of the way.
If you want a pack member attempting to be their truest self while at Catholic school:
The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes
This debut YA novel a) has an amazing title, and b) is such a delight. It follows Yamilet, a queer closeted Mexican-American girl who’s transferring schools after being outed to her friend group…by her best friend and crush, no less. With this fresh start, Yami’s determined to hide her sexual identity. But when she becomes friends with annoyingly perfect Bo, the only out queer kid at her new school and begins to fall for her (whoops!), Yami’s entire plan becomes a little…difficult. This book handles Yamilet’s experiences so sensitively, and the characters are all so nuanced and heartfelt. And if you read this book and love it, I have great news for you, Sonora Reyes has a new companion book out: The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar.
If you want a pack member who’s refusing to confirm to society’s expectations:
The Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin
When I first saw the announcement for this book on Instagram I immediately reached out to Madeline Claire Franklin and basically forced her to become my writer friend. A foster teen discovers a pack of feral girls in the forest (being guarded by wolves no less), who claim to be princesses from another realm raised by a prophet named Mother. And they are convinced that the girl is their lost fifth sister. But when she helps bring them into the modern world, she is forced to face her own traumatic past and ultimately ask the question of whether helping these wild girls adapt is truly the best thing. I loved this book and have been lucky enough to be on two panels with Madeline. The book is nuanced, beautiful, and 100% worth your time.
If you want a pack member who is literally turning wild:
Nightbitch by Rebecca Yoder
I cannot stop talking about this book, even years after reading it. Have I forced it on friends? Possibly. Did it inspire Hear Her Howl? Absolutely. An artist who has become a new stay-at-home mother, is struggling with isolation, and the loss of her identity, and frustrations at no longer being able to create her art…and she’s fairly certain she’s turning into a dog. See, she’s no longer domestic, now she’s feral. This book made me laugh out loud. It’s weird, and relatable, and freaking awesome. And while I haven’t seen the movie, I can tell you with certainty that the book will make you want to howl.
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
Want a book where the transformation isn’t into a canine, but a dragon? Imagine this: an alternative world in 1955 that’s much like our own except for one thing: hundreds of thousands of ordinary women—wives, mothers, sisters, aunts—have turned into dragons and then taken to the skies. Except the Mass Dragoning is taboo, no one’s allowed to even discuss it. This book explores female rage and what it’s like to be asked to stay small when all you want to do is expand. And by the end, it will make you want to breathe fire and unfurl your own wings.
If you want a pack member pursuing meaning (and a sapphic romance) while at boarding school:
The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton
This book is a favorite of mine and has a number of commonalities with Hear Her Howl: a New England boarding school, a school choir, a sapphic romance, illicit midnight activities. It’s also about obsession, religious fervor, idealism, and a search for meaning and transcendence outside the realm of the day to day. I tore through this book, loving how dark and messy things got. And I love an intense female friendship—especially when it’s not clear if the main character wants to be the other girl, or just flat out wants the other girl (or possibly both)—and wow, does this book deliver.
If you want a pack member who will inspire you to break free of your cage:
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Everyone in my life is probably sick to death by now of hearing me talk about Glennon Doyle’s writing and podcast, We Can Do Hard Things. But too bad! Because I’m here to do it again! I listened to this book in 2020 and it saved me. Truly. At a time that I felt lost, when the world was shut down and things felt scary and unknown, these were the words I needed to hear. About burning the memos we’ve been given in life, about turning within and owning who we truly are, about realizing we’re not crazy, we’re goddamned cheetahs. Also, talk about an amazing sapphic romance! I have three words for you that you will either already understand, or soon come to understand: there she is.
If you want a pack member who will inspire you to lead a pack:
Wolfpack by Abby Wambach
Another book I couldn’t stop talking about, written by Olympic athlete, activist, and podcast host, Abby Wambach (not to mention the partner to Glennon Doyle). This is a book we should all be reading, even if we’re not planning on being out on the court or field (and believe me, I’m not). This is about leading with integrity, inclusiveness, and having a new kind of model that rejects the old boys club way of doing things. As Abby Wambach points out, the vicious alpha wolf model that we all have in our heads only happens when wolves are trapped in captivity. Wolves in their natural habitats are actually very communal; they are essentially families. And if we translate that idea into how we live our lives and operate in society, there’s some important implications. What if we stopped trying to compete? What if we rid of ourselves of the scarcity mindset? What if, instead, we tried to build something better together?
If you want a pack member who’s way smarter and wiser than you and makes you see stories differently:
Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
This book hugely inspired and influenced Hear Her Howl and my copy is completely marked up and highlighted, with little tags on numerous pages. Estés argues that within every woman lives a powerful force “filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing.” She calls this force, the Wild Woman. But the Wild Woman is endangered because society tries to civilize her into rigid roles. Estés explores this idea by analyzing various myths, fairy tales, folk tales and stories from a wide variety of traditions, all with the goal of helping women reconnect with their truest selves. The Wild Woman isn’t a figure to be tamed, she shows us, she is one to be revered, full of magic, medicine, and deep knowing.
