Reviews

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

anamazingday's review

sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

The first half is SO slow and not a lot happens. Things pick up in the second half a lot!

skelley9414's review

4.0

I read this when I was younger as well but I read it for a book report for school and I loved it. I had so much fun with it.

wormoncat's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

cassietea783's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Sexual assault

surpriseitem's review

1.0

How did this get a Newberry Medal award? It was terrible. But, then again, that is probably just me. But, the writing was terrible! I didn't like the plot, and I really just don't think it was very . . . Realistic. Who would go up to a wolf and try to "learn its ways?" Most of the time, I like learning about cultures in fiction books, it makes learning all the more fun, but I could barely swim through this book.

bookjockeybeth's review

4.0

4th grade book club

abbygail3's review

fast-paced

• Strong character development? No

4.0

kpwerker's review

5.0

I absolutely loved this book as a child. I was enthralled by the story, and read the book under my covers by flashlight. I wrote more about it here: http://www.kimwerker.com/2008/09/13/wolves-at-my-gate/

annalisenak97's review against another edition

3.0

Alright, so I'm giving this three and a half stars because I love wolves a lot, the writing in this is very very good, and Miyax is just a great, well rounded, spunky character. I don't really know what to do about the fact that this was written by a white woman. I don't know if she listened to stories or spoke with any Native people before writing this, and it is definitely a respectful, dignified, reverent, and overall positive depiction. However George uses the word Esk*mo a lot, even for Miyax to describe herself, and I'm pretty sure this story takes place in like the 70s, but even so it feels very weird and problematic. There are some descriptions that also feel problematic to me. I don't know.

thepeachmartini's review against another edition

4.0

I read this as part of my "Around the US in 50 Book" challenge (read a book set in each of the 50 states...can't be something I've read before, and preferably something outside of my favored genre, etc.) This review is going to be pretty basic - just getting some thoughts down before they totally leave my pea-brain.

This was a very easy read, and because of that I was surprised at how well I liked Julie of the Wolves. This definitely had the school reading list vibe, but I still found it to be a good book. The difficult decisions Julie/Miyax was faced with, the situations she chose to put herself in to try to make a better life for herself - not your typical decisions a young adolescent girl would be faced with. The physical journey was trying, but I think the mental/emotional journey was far more difficult for her. I liked the unexpected twist towards the end, which really added a level of depth to Julie/Miyax's overall character. It made me think about what I would do if faced with a similar situation.

The Kindle version had a great section for discussion topics for reading in a classroom setting, and even as an adult, the questions made you consider the book in different ways. I also enjoyed reading about the author.