Why is it so great?
Best thing I ever did that involved reading besides learning how. A while back, I was looking for a good book to read, and one of my friends recommend Julie of the Wolves. Of course it's a young reader's book. (But I'm kind of young myself, hint's the name: Youngen) And she was a pretty regular reader, so i thought she would have good taste in books. I decided to trust her, and like I said, it was the best thing I ever did that involved reading, besides learning how to read.
Julie of the Wolves is one of the best nature-themed fiction books I've ever known. It's right up there with My Side of the Mountain and Hatchet. My Side of the Mountain is also by Jean Craighead George, one of the best nature book writers in my opinion, along with Gary Paulsen who wrote Hatchet.
What's it about?
Miyax, a young Inupait, whose white men name is Julie, is dealing with a lot of the same problems kids and teenagers today go through. Except she is an eskimo, in Alaska. Her father is gone; she is all alone in life now. Miyax is stuck with a husband she doesn't like after that and decides to run away. She is originally trying to run away and fly to San Francisco where her pen-pal lives and she so deeply desires to move because of her pen-pal's vivid descriptions. However, she gets lost on the tundra while trying to travel to the city where she hopes to fly south. After that is when the story picks up, she does the nearly-impossible, befriending a pack of wolves. There it is where she becomes part of them, and they become part of her.
What's bad about it?
I don't have much bad to say about it. I can't say it's too short because there are two sequels. So...um.....nothing else!
What's good about it?
The good points of this novel would have to be that it incorporates different cultures together. You can get in touch with how people in Alaska live, and what it is like to have so much beauty around you. It also will interest you in a suspenseful different-kind-of thriller, that isn't so much about who is going to die or going to get caught, as much as it is "What is Miyax going to do?"
The descriptions of characters and places were also great. Sometimes I felt as if I were watching a movie in my head, rather than reading. The author, Jean Craighead George, tells the story descriptively and intriugingly not so much with many words, but by making every one of them count.
Why should someone read it?
Julie of the Wolves is definitely a novel of many different moods. At times I laughed, at times I was scared, at times I smiled, at times I was horrified. It's a great book to read when you are just looking for a book to read, that's what I did. It will fill up your tank with the gas that only a good book can provide. I was always one who preferred to read books about nature, that's why I like it a lot. If that's you too, then you should read it. For wolf lovers, it's a must.
Storyline: 5 out of 5
Characters: 4 out of 5
Action: 5 out of 5
Beginning: 3 out of 5
Middle: 4 out of 5
Conclusion: 5 out of 5
*There are two sequels, as I mentioned. I have also read them and will give reviews about them also. It may take a little time to get it all together, but stay tuned if interested.
*Update:
review of 2nd in series:
Julie
review of 3rd in series:
Julie's Wolf Pack
France
Germany
United Kingdom
Australia
USA
