Julie of the Wolves (HarperClassics)

This was one of those books that has been on my list for forever. I first encountered this book when I was in fifth or sixth grade, in a reading competition called Battle of the Books. Yes, it was the best competition ever. You read extra books and then they asked you reading comprehension questions about them. I read some of my most favorite books because of Battle of the Books, books I still use to this day in my classroom. Julie of the Wolves was one of the books on the list that I didn't read. You see, you were on teams in Battle of the Books and so you split up the reading duties. Yeah, sure, I still read most of the books on the list, but there were a couple I missed. Hatchet, for example. (Okay, I started it and it grossed me out so I didn't finish, happy?) Anyway, I've been seeing this book everywhere since then (it is a Newbery Medal winner, after all, and appears on literally all the lists). I've started it several times and hadn't gotten around to finishing it. Finally, finally, I finished it.

It was good! I loved the survival parts of the book. I love learning about how other cultures adapt and learn to survive in their native environments, and this was no exception. I kept finding myself going, "Oh, that makes sense," or "Cool, I'd never think to do that!" I loved the message that the old ways were good ways -- the Eskimo people had figured out how to adapt to nature rather than to man-made tools to try and fix nature. But the ending really upset me. It seemed to negate the whole book and I didn't like it at all.

Maybe I'll have to read the next one to see what happens, since that ending was terribly unsatisfying. Sigh. Good thing I love to read!

I read this book as part of a challenge to read all the Newbery Medal Winners. This book won in 1973. What I liked: A teenage Yupik girl flees her husband and ends up lost on the Tundra. An interesting story of the life of eskimos and wild animals, survival in the Alaskan wilderness, and the clash of the western way of life with native people. What I disliked: It was disappointing how Julie’s father had changed by book's end, from a traditional hunter into a guy who shot things for fun from a helicopter.

What a wonderful book! Julie is a young teen escaping a forced marriage, and she just joins up with a wolf pack. The wolves all have names and different personalities. This book deserved all the awards it got.