Going Wild audiobook

I loved this book. Charlie is awesome, there's diversity and has suspense. Overall an awesome story. I'm definitely reading the two sequels. Would recommend to people who like animals and Keeper Of The Lost Cities.

I was a little hesitant about this book at first, but when I read it I was SO glad I did! This is an amazing animal/human fantasy book! There are 3 in the series and if you like fiction/fantasy/adventure this is a MUST READ!

Well 3 stars for the actual story and the fourth one for the amazing cover!The story takes time to build up pace but quite a ride! Of course since they're only 12yr olds they do have certain limitations so really it's more of a children's book then something for teenagers or adults but then again anyone who likes adventure stories will love this.It's truly a superhero story just as Maria says!

This was really fun - no great surprises, but engaging characters and plot :)

amazing, i cant wait to get the second book

4.5/5 StarsDate Reviewed: 16 October 2016This Review was first posted on Keep Reading Forward. If you want to see more, check out our other locations as well as here.Another amazing book with amazing adventures by Lisa McMann. Perfect for Middle Grade Students, Fun for All Ages!In Going Wild, tells the tale of Charlie Wilde and what happens after he family's move to Arizona. She discovers a bracelet with her name on after going through her belongings after settling into their new home. Assuming its one of those sport bracelets well-known athletes wears, she puts it on and quickly discovers there is something mysterious about it. In the search with her friends, they set out to discover the abilities behind the bracelet, and the history behind it for what it really is. The AuthorI picked this book because of the author obviously. I was first introduced to Lisa McMann by reading the entire The Unwanteds series and the first Wake book in the respective series. There is always something intriguing about her books, and always something creative. When this book was announced, it was already on my list to read. I even had it on pre-order to get it as soon as possible the it came out. Originality TwistSo you probably have seen some story about animals and humans having abilities have certain animals. You would probably think that this book isn't original, just another story playing along with these animal super abilities. However, I believe these story has an original spun to it and felt original as I read along. Wonderful Characters and PersonalitiesThis was not a story where there was character that didn't have much personality to them or even having a little backstory to them. All the character had different personalities that stood them apart from each other, but went well with each other. Each character stood apart from each other and how there own time to shine in the story.This book was just another one of an amazing job well done. The only part I wished there was more of was the bracelet. Although the bracelet was a main point of the story and a lot of information was told about it, there was just only two parts that I wished were explain more or experienced more. It didn't seem that it was used a lot or had enough time in the story. I just hope these two key details are going to be used more in the next book. Overall, I could tell that this book is the perfect book for students in the middle-grade, but could also be a good book for all ages, even for families to share and read together.

This is going to be another favorite McMann series! Beware, major cliff-hanger. I am not a fan of the black pages, but the kids seem just fine with them. I received my ARC courtesy of Lisa McMann!!!!

4.5Reader thoughts: I thought I'd be reading a fast, MG book with lots of shouting and magic and little depth. Not so!To my pleasant surprise, GW focuses a lot on friendship and family. I'd almost think that was the main plot. The book starts a lot like the beginning of Inside Out (movie), with a 12-year-old girl moving and feeling utterly homesick. Her parents are suddenly at work all the time, and her younger brother isn't sympathetic. The first student she meets at school turns out to be a gossip. What can she do?Then Charlie finds a special bracelet, tries out for the soccer team, builds sets in theater class, and starts saving lives.Many of the elements here are not new. There's a secret government organization with mad scientists and experimental technology that gives super powers and has something to do with animals and DNA. This is so familiar I can't even name all the books this copies, but Maximum Ride would be the first.However, there are a lot of new elements. This book is about only a twelve-year-old, and she's not a martial arts expert, and she never has to run from home or get chased across the country. She's at school. She's learning how to be a better friend and sister and daughter. She has sleepovers, and she and her friends talk about more than just the bracelet's powers or how to get it off. It's like they have a real life or something.Writer thoughts: There were a few pov shifts. Every now and then, once a chapter or so, one or two sentences would be from someone else's pov (not Charlie's). Why? Maybe it's supposed to add depth to the story by giving readers another angle. They were pulled off well, I'll admit. There were just enough of them to know they weren't accidental. There were just few enough of them (and short enough as they were) that they didn't pull away from the story or jar me out of it.In fact, when I picked up the book halfway through, I forgot I wasn't reading a first person story. The pov follows Charlie close enough that I thought she was the narrator.

It had been a while for me since reading a book by Lisa McMann. I started her Unwanted series, but never really got into it after the second book. I wasn’t sure what to expect with one of her other stories, though in the end I am glad I gave it a chance. Charlotte (or Charlie for short) is a Chicago born kid whose family moves to a town in Arizona for better work. Feeling like an outsider, Charlie worries she will never fit in. Right as she begins to make friends and settle into her new life, she discovers a package sent to her old house that she forgot to open back in Chicago. Inside of it is a bracelet with a screen and other buttons. Thinking nothing of it, she puts it on and soon begins to discover that it is more than a strange fit bit. She begins to run as fast as a cheetah, lift as much as an elephant, and with the help of her friends discovers that is just the beginning. Now she has to master these new powers in order to keep them a secret from both the town, and other forces looking to exploit the bracelets abilities. Compared to other books involving characters with mysterious powers, this one takes a much slower approach. The story gets Charlie settled into her new life for a bit before she really experiences what her abilities are. While some might find this slower story approach annoying, I actually found it rather pleasant. It allowed me to get to know Charlie and her friends before the main part of the plot was thrown into the mix. Charlie is also a character I can relate to. The anxiety of something that big changing in one’s life really can make things difficult. Reading about a character feeling what I felt at the first day of a new school, made her even more relatable. I also loved her new friends Maria and Mac. Maria comes from a unique background and mentions everything from Ms. Marvel to other cultural references that I love myself. Mac is a technical genius who struggles with what others think of him, but still manages to figure out how to help his friends. In the end, Going Wild starts slow but eventually builds up into a great superhero type adventure. With the way the book ended, I can’t wait till the next entry in the trilogy.

My name is Charlie, and I hated when my family moved from Chicago to a small town in Arizona. However, the biggest change had nothing to do with the move. I found a box addressed to me in the garage, and I thought I'd found a cool athletic band. You know, the ones that track your heartbeat and calories burned. I didn't notice anything strange until I attended soccer tryouts. The other girls said I was running super-fast, and it helped me score a goal. I was feeling great until I was kicked in my knee, and I was certain my leg was broken. It swelled up to a huge size and was all kinds of shades of purple and blue. Imagine my surprise when I woke up the next day, and my knee was back to normal. I didn't know what was going on with my body, and it terrified me. I couldn't control what my body was doing.This book set the groundwork for the rest of the series. Most of the story described Charlie's efforts to survive middle school after manifesting some enhanced abilities from a mysterious bracelet. I expected her to become the super hero her friend expected, but she spent most of her time trying to figure out how to control the powers. They popped up unexpectedly and didn't always end positively. Consequently, most of the book felt less like a speculative fiction and more like a regular middle grade fiction where the main character just wanted to fit in. The bracelet saved a couple abilities for later, so this provided a little more suspense to the story. The mystery of the bracelet was introduced early on, but it wasn't explained until the last fourth of the book. I can't say I fully understood the premise of the problem, and some events were less "believable". The sequel will clearly address the conflict surrounding the bracelet head-on, as the antagonists made a late appearance in the plot. I'm curious to see where the story goes, so I've already reserved a copy of the sequel Predator Vs. Prey. Give the series a shot.

Wonderful middle grade adventure / fantasy read by a beloved author (Unwanteds series & Unwanteds Quests). Charlie (gr6) moves from Chicago to Navarro, AZ & discovers a small parcel addressed to her that contains a bracelet that locks shut on her wrist. The bracelet has icons for various animal powers she begins to experience (speed of a cheetah, strength of an elephant- that sort of thing)- yet Charlie at first does not understand what causes the powers to activate nor can she "turn them off" at will. Her friend Maria helps her learn to use the power wisely. Meanwhile, a team of people led by the sinister Dr. Gray are trying to locate the bracelet and discover an IP address ping from Maria's location- paving the way for the next novel in the series. Great cliff-hanger ending. Love the strong female characters in this novel.