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A review by samwescott
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
3.0
I really, really adored this book when I was young. I was pretty sure that if I could manage to meet a wolf, I would be able to talk to her because I had memorized this story so well. I definitely had a thing for Young Native Woman Survivalist Novels (Island of the Blue Dolphin was another fave) and this one was extra fun because I was going through my weird wolf girl phase (why yes, it did coincide with my weird horse girl phase, why do you ask?).
Going back to it now, I was a little shocked by how bleak it is. It's a survivalist novel, yeah, but it's also a child marriage horror story with an attempted sexual assault right in the middle. There's a lurking story about native children being rehomed and forcibly re-educated into English culture and losing the ability to participate in their own culture, but the story being told through the eyes of a 13 year old did simplify that down a little bit.
But geez, this book made raw Caribou liver sound delicious so there's definitely some engrossing writing in there.
But! As an adult reader with a little more nervousness about representation, I am slightly concerned to find out that the author isn't native. It seems like she has a lot of expertise in the local nature and climate, but I did find a couple reviews online from native folks who actually live in this part of Alaska and they were not pleased with some of her inaccuracies. Apparently she got a lot of the language wrong ("amoraq" should be "amaguq" and there's no "X" in the Inupiaq alphabet, so "Miyax" is not a native name etc) and some of the basic geography and behaviors don't really make sense to actual native readers from Barrow and if they thing this story isn't good representation, I am going to defer to them.
So, loved it as kid, but as an adult it's a little cringe-y to see a white author writing about how this girl likes that starvation has made her cheeks hollow like a white girl's face. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Going back to it now, I was a little shocked by how bleak it is. It's a survivalist novel, yeah, but it's also a child marriage horror story with an attempted sexual assault right in the middle. There's a lurking story about native children being rehomed and forcibly re-educated into English culture and losing the ability to participate in their own culture, but the story being told through the eyes of a 13 year old did simplify that down a little bit.
But geez, this book made raw Caribou liver sound delicious so there's definitely some engrossing writing in there.
But! As an adult reader with a little more nervousness about representation, I am slightly concerned to find out that the author isn't native. It seems like she has a lot of expertise in the local nature and climate, but I did find a couple reviews online from native folks who actually live in this part of Alaska and they were not pleased with some of her inaccuracies. Apparently she got a lot of the language wrong ("amoraq" should be "amaguq" and there's no "X" in the Inupiaq alphabet, so "Miyax" is not a native name etc) and some of the basic geography and behaviors don't really make sense to actual native readers from Barrow and if they thing this story isn't good representation, I am going to defer to them.
So, loved it as kid, but as an adult it's a little cringe-y to see a white author writing about how this girl likes that starvation has made her cheeks hollow like a white girl's face. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯