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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
I had forgotten all about this book! When I saw it at the library it brought back sick memories of how books in my childhood took me on such adventures.
This one... So different from any life I'd known. Julie is so brave and fantastic. I loved her them and now. I'm so glad for the chance to revisit this life.
This one... So different from any life I'd known. Julie is so brave and fantastic. I loved her them and now. I'm so glad for the chance to revisit this life.
I like Julie. The story was interesting. spoiler alert: After Amaroq dies, she kinda goes off the deep end about Eskimo v. Civilization, but by the end comes around and is reunited with Capugen.
Might have misspelled something. I listened to the audiobook.
Wonder what happens next but not sure if enough to go find the next book. lol.
Might have misspelled something. I listened to the audiobook.
Wonder what happens next but not sure if enough to go find the next book. lol.
I wish I had read this when I was younger, but my inner child still enjoyed it immensely.
I read this book at 10, and it definitely opened my naive eyes to real world problems, it left me sad and angsty, but also very intrigued.
I would die so fast in Miyax's situation. Probably exactly as fast as it takes a person to freeze to death.
I can't believe that I'd forgotten all about this one! Such a shocking, eye opening read as a child, and it's all flooding back to me. I remember reading this at the same time that my family had gotten our first dog, and being fascinated by the exploration of canine behavior... oh, and doesn't she have to eat just what the wolf pups eat, and by that I mean...?
Ahem.
Even though I don't remember all the specifics of this story, I do remember how rivited and moved I was by it, so I have no qualms giving this a five star rating.
Ahem.
Even though I don't remember all the specifics of this story, I do remember how rivited and moved I was by it, so I have no qualms giving this a five star rating.
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George was chosen for the Newbery Banned/Censored category. This book tells the story of Julie/Miyax and how she befriends a family of wolves in the Alaskan wilderness. She learns the wolves' ways and become part of their family. They hunt for her and share with her! The second part of the story tells of Julie's origins and how she lived with a family in Alaska, was married at 13, and then ran away. When she was 9 her father left her to go seal hunting and was never seen from again. The third part of the story continues her fight for the wolves and her fight for survival. There was a slight twist that I wasn't expecting at the end. And to be completely honest I was really looking forward to some juicy reasons for this book being banned and didn't really come up with something. Yes, her 13 year old husband "forced himself upon her". But I was thinking there would be more scandal in this book. I feel like the reasons for this book being banned and censored in many areas is absolutely ridiculous.
It is simply an alright book. I read this for school when I was younger and became very frustrated with the main character and her decisions, especially regarding the very last part of the book. It wasn't an intriguing read for me and I never became personally invested in the main character. The wolves were my favorite characters (are they considered characters?) and found the descriptions of Julie attempting the wolf behaviors to be distracting and weird. Perhaps there is a better way to describe a human attempting to communicate by acting like a wolf? Perhaps not. Either way this book wasn't actually that bad, just not one I wanted to read by any means as a young reader.
This is a fast read, two days if you take your time and don't blaze through the paragraphs and short dialogue, and you really shouldn't blaze through the short dialogue.
George does an exceptional job crafting emotional impact in this book (winner of multiple literature awards) and its short length belies the extremely intense themes that are packed into just a few chapters: cultural identity, the impact of colonialism and colonial ideas, technological advancement, habitat destruction, child marriage, the impact of tourism on delicate environments, sexual assault, deep grief and isolation, the death of a loved family member, the metaphorical death of a loved family member, betrayal of shared values/culture by a loved one, and of course, the value of quiet observation and an open mind for learning.
A word from 2019 though: The author was born in 1919, a century ago. She died in 2012 at the age of 92. Her world view was formed as a child born just after World War I, and she was writing prolifically in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Julie of the Wolves was written during the late 60s and published in 1972 by a woman who was born 50 years prior. This is all to explain that George's depiction of Alaskan Native people and culture is coming from a woman who is white, American, and NOT an Alaskan Native person. Our collective understanding of cultural bias, colonialism, casual and institutionalized racism, "positive racism", "noble savage" tropes and other seriously problematic habits are VERY DIFFERENT in 2019 than they were when this book was written. I would be very interested to hear the analysis of Alaskan Peoples on a book like this, which appears to be INTENDED to be sympathetic, emotional and nature-revering, but it might have been at the expense of cultural sensitivity.
I am going to briefly talk about *that scene* in Julie of the Wolves which has elicited a lot of controversy (and bans) throughout its 50 years of life.
Is it shocking? Of course. But immediately after being assaulted we see our protagonist overcome her first reaction of fear, ask for help, take her life into her own hands and yeet on out of danger in less than two pages. As an 11 year old I found that reassuring and instructional. It is NOT to say that all people who are assaulted have the same situation, opportunities to remove themselves from the situation and so on; this was a very specific (and fictional) event that occurred in Julie's young life. I do not resent its inclusion in the story because, I realize, assault happens to a lot of young people particularly young women, and this book is overall a tragedy.
Is there some component to this scene that can be criticized as the writer placing blame on Julie's culture (being forced into a child marriage)? Julie is swept into a situation she doesn't want to consent to, and is told that it's normal and cultural, so it definitely could be a racist part of a racist book. And again, I'm not an Alaskan Native person, so my reading may be totally wrong. But every time I read it, I understood it as the whole theme of the book was Julie's helplessness against changes happening to and around her, including the encroaching of the foreign colonizers, the spread of technology, the allure of California and the subsequent betrayal of that dream when she sees the hunters killing native wildlife, and adults forcing her into school, speaking English and marrying white Americans, so the marriage was just another sweeping change that she found herself caught in, not specifically critical of her culture.
That is A LOT of text to review a scene that's literally a couple hundred words, but it's a serious scene in a book that has real staying power thanks to its powerful depictions of universal experiences like grief, loss, isolation, acceptance and self-reliance-- not to mention the beautiful and romantic descriptions of the glittering unspoiled Arctic wilderness. No matter your thoughts on the interpersonal aspects of the book, George's reverence for nature, the eponymous wolves, the land and weather, shine through and inspire great respect for the tundra of Alaska.
George does an exceptional job crafting emotional impact in this book (winner of multiple literature awards) and its short length belies the extremely intense themes that are packed into just a few chapters: cultural identity, the impact of colonialism and colonial ideas, technological advancement, habitat destruction, child marriage, the impact of tourism on delicate environments, sexual assault, deep grief and isolation, the death of a loved family member, the metaphorical death of a loved family member, betrayal of shared values/culture by a loved one, and of course, the value of quiet observation and an open mind for learning.
A word from 2019 though: The author was born in 1919, a century ago. She died in 2012 at the age of 92. Her world view was formed as a child born just after World War I, and she was writing prolifically in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Julie of the Wolves was written during the late 60s and published in 1972 by a woman who was born 50 years prior. This is all to explain that George's depiction of Alaskan Native people and culture is coming from a woman who is white, American, and NOT an Alaskan Native person. Our collective understanding of cultural bias, colonialism, casual and institutionalized racism, "positive racism", "noble savage" tropes and other seriously problematic habits are VERY DIFFERENT in 2019 than they were when this book was written. I would be very interested to hear the analysis of Alaskan Peoples on a book like this, which appears to be INTENDED to be sympathetic, emotional and nature-revering, but it might have been at the expense of cultural sensitivity.
I am going to briefly talk about *that scene* in Julie of the Wolves which has elicited a lot of controversy (and bans) throughout its 50 years of life.
Spoiler
It's a very difficult and frightening topic to get into, but there IS a depiction of attempted marital rape in this book. It's earned it a spot on a Banned Books List but I might argue that when I read this book as an elementary school child I took it to heart as a clear warning of what sexual assault can look like, and what a reasonable response might be: get the fuck out of there and don't make excuses for the assailant.Is it shocking? Of course. But immediately after being assaulted we see our protagonist overcome her first reaction of fear, ask for help, take her life into her own hands and yeet on out of danger in less than two pages. As an 11 year old I found that reassuring and instructional. It is NOT to say that all people who are assaulted have the same situation, opportunities to remove themselves from the situation and so on; this was a very specific (and fictional) event that occurred in Julie's young life. I do not resent its inclusion in the story because, I realize, assault happens to a lot of young people particularly young women, and this book is overall a tragedy.
Is there some component to this scene that can be criticized as the writer placing blame on Julie's culture (being forced into a child marriage)? Julie is swept into a situation she doesn't want to consent to, and is told that it's normal and cultural, so it definitely could be a racist part of a racist book. And again, I'm not an Alaskan Native person, so my reading may be totally wrong. But every time I read it, I understood it as the whole theme of the book was Julie's helplessness against changes happening to and around her, including the encroaching of the foreign colonizers, the spread of technology, the allure of California and the subsequent betrayal of that dream when she sees the hunters killing native wildlife, and adults forcing her into school, speaking English and marrying white Americans, so the marriage was just another sweeping change that she found herself caught in, not specifically critical of her culture.
That is A LOT of text to review a scene that's literally a couple hundred words, but it's a serious scene in a book that has real staying power thanks to its powerful depictions of universal experiences like grief, loss, isolation, acceptance and self-reliance-- not to mention the beautiful and romantic descriptions of the glittering unspoiled Arctic wilderness. No matter your thoughts on the interpersonal aspects of the book, George's reverence for nature, the eponymous wolves, the land and weather, shine through and inspire great respect for the tundra of Alaska.