Julie of the Wolves
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| Author | Jean Craighead George |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Harper Trophy |
| Released | 1972 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 155 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-06-440058-1 |
| Followed by | Julie |
Julie of the Wolves is a children's novel by Jean Craighead George, published in 1972, about a young Eskimo girl experiencing the changes forced upon her culture from outside. There are two sequels, Julie and Julie's Wolf Pack. The near rape of the main character has made this book controversial, and has led to Julie of the Wolves being banned several times. It is number 38 on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.[1] The book was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1973.
[edit] Plot summary
Julie, also called Miyax, experiences a series of dislocations after her father (Kapugen) disappears when hunting seals. She then must live with her aunt Martha, who tries to force a Western education on her. To escape from her aunt, she agrees to marry a friend of her dads. Her new husband's parents (Naka and Nusan) assure her that "he will be like a brother to you"; but Julie's husband (Daniel), tormented by other boys, tries — "as frightened as she" — to rape her. Julie flees, with some idea of joining a pen-pal (Amy) in San Francisco.
Lost on Alaska's North Shelf with little else but a traditional Inuit knife, Miyax is close to giving up, until she spots a wolf pack. Remembering a story that her father told her, about how he once survived by taking refuge with wolves, Julie realizes she can do the same. Unfortunately, her father left out how he communicated with the wolves. Undaunted, Julie watches the wolves and learns their non-verbal forms of communication. She then uses this knowledge to get the wolves to accept her as a member of the pack. She especially befriends the black furred alpha male, considering him her new father.
The wolves eventually head towards the coast, and Julie, with nowhere else to go, follows them. Along the way, she adopts a golden plover that didn't migrate south, whom she calls "Tornait." Eventually, Julie and the wolves get too close to civilization. Her adopted father, the alpha wolf known as Amaroq, is shot from a plane, and many of others are wounded and scattered.
After burying her friend, Julie continues on alone until she comes to an Arctic town, called "Kangik." She hears that there is a great hunter there that seems to almost exactly match the description of her father. Going to see the hunter, she discovers that it is indeed her father, who didn't die, but instead abandoned her. Julie is happy, though, until she finds out not only that her father married a white woman named Ellen and adopted Western technology and customs, and plans on sending her to another western style school, he flew the plane that killed the wolves, and has apparently lost all respect for nature. Julie flees back to the wilderness, but when her pet tern dies shortly after she stops for the night, she heads back towards civilization.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH |
Newbery Medal recipient 1973 |
Succeeded by The Slave Dancer |
