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In Times Past
an eBook on CD
by Carol Hurst and Rebecca Otis

Integrating US History with Literature in Grades 3-8.

Enliven your US History curriculum!

Teach US History using great kids books.

More Info

Julie of the Wolves

by George, Jean Craighead. (HarperCollins, 1972 ISBN 0-06-440058-1) Novel. 170 pages. Grades 5+.
This book was reviewed by Carol Otis Hurst in Teaching K-8 Magazine.

Review

Miyax rebels against a home situation she finds intolerable and runs away toward San Francisco, toward her pen pal, who calls her Julie. But soon Miyax is lost in the Alaskan wilderness, without food, without even a compass. Slowly she is accepted by a pack of Arctic wolves, and she comes to love them as though they were her brothers. With their help, and drawing on her father's training, she struggles day by day to survive.

The wolves in the book are, of course, dealt with sympathetically and their tragedy is one deeply felt by most readers. It's not difficult to find good information about wolves; the Sierra Club's book Wolves by R. D. Lawrence is a particularly well done resource on the subject. Students might like to investigate wolves more seriously and then decide whether or not wolves would/could have adopted Julie in the way in which the book has them do. Students might also like to consider how much of her survival is her own doing.

Julie is caught between cultures and her choice is well-defined. Until the very last sentence in the book, readers are unsure which choice she will make and most are empathetic toward her dilemma. So, the discussion easily becomes which choice would they have made or was she justified. Should the book have been entitled "Miyax of the Wolves"?

The sequel Julie may answer some but not all of the questions readers may have after reading Julie of the Wolves.

Related Areas of Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site

• Look to the North: A Wolf Pup Diary by George, Jean Craighead. Featured Book with summary, activities, related books and links.
• Cry of the Wolf by Burgess, Melvin. Book Review.
• Wolves Lawrence, R. D. Book Review.

Related Areas Elsewhere on the Internet

• Wolf Pictures and Facts http://fohn.net/wolf-pictures-facts/ including links to more wolf sites.
• Yahoo's listing of Wolves Sites.