Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Julie of the Wolves

I read this book while supervising an elementary classroom. Honestly, it feels a bit heavy for young ages. Overall, decent writing but the plot was under-developed and left lots to be desired.

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totallytasha's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book is beautiful written, but it was slow and that usually isn’t my jam. I loved how Julie used observation to learn to communicate with the wolves. She was one with nature.

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kayladaila's review

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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jselliot's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

A childhood book where I knew it was part of a series, but I never got a chance to find/read the others. I do intend to rectify that, though! This book definitely started my curiosity about Alaska, though.

Obviously, some of my trope preferences hold true even now. It involves a girl that learns to survive against the odds, and has a heavy dose of animal companionship. She's creative and independent, and grows to thrive in the wild. The ending is cyclical to a degree - as an "into the wild" type of book, it also has a "return to civilization" at the end. But it implies that there's going to be more than just that, and I'm curious to see if that narrative promise holds out.

As forewarning, it does have attempted rape - but it is handled sensitively considering the target age group, and it isn't in great detail. There is also dated terminology in the use of "Eskimo," but the book was written in the 70s, so I can't hold that against it as a product of its era. The proper term is "Inuit," though.

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forsan's review

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4.0

Thirteen-year-old Yupik girl Miyax (Julie Edwards Miyax Kapugen) is orphaned and extremely alone, both in life and in the Alaskan wilderness. At the beginning of the story, we encounter Miyax somewhere outside of Barrow, Alaska, having left her husband and life there. As she befriends a wolf pack, we learn more about her past and dreams for the future, with Miyax caught between Alaska's past and its future.

I read this when I was little (I think we listened to the book on CD in the car), and it was really nice to come back to it again.

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kibbles15's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is still one of my favorite books from my childhood. There are some interesting insights on the Eskimo culture. I would, however, recommend this for older children because there are some parts that younger children would not necessarily understand.

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