Book Feature: “Where Wolves Don’t Die” by Anton Treuer
While I have not yet had a chance to read Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer, the story intrigues me and I wanted to share it with my audience. A young adult novel, Where Wolves Don’t Die is set in Northeast Minneapolis, a place I have lived and worked in for many years. I also admire the author, Dr. Anton Treuer, an Ojibwe scholar and the author of many books, most of which are nonfiction. Once I’ve had the chance to read the novel, I’ll share my thoughts. For now, I’d just like to highlight it for you.
Synopsis
Ezra Cloud hates living in Northeast Minneapolis. His father is a professor of their language, Ojibwe, at a local college, so they have to be there. But Ezra hates the dirty, polluted snow around them. He hates being away from the rez at Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation. And he hates the local bully in his neighborhood, Matt Schroeder, who terrorizes Ezra and his friend Nora George.
Ezra gets into a terrible fight with Matt at school defending Nora, and that same night, Matt’s house burns down. Instantly, Ezra becomes a prime suspect. Knowing he won’t get a fair deal, and knowing his innocence, Ezra’s family sends him away to run traplines with his grandfather in a remote part of Canada, while the investigation is ongoing. But the Schroeders are looking for him…
From acclaimed author Anton Treuer comes a novel that’s both taut thriller and a raw, tender coming-of-age story, about one Ojibwe boy learning to love himself through the love of his family around him.
Praise
“Where Wolves Don’t Die will lift you up and not let you down. Anton Treuer knows how to tell a gripping story and the suspense doesn’t let up for a single page. Along the way you’ll learn about Ojibwe lifeways, languages, sharp jokes, gentle humor, and how to keep romantic love alive from youth to old age. I couldn’t put this book down until I’d finished it, and then, I could not forget it.”
–Louise Erdrich, Pulitzer Prize Winner and owner of Birchbark Books
“I am in awe, crying and smiling at the same time. Where Wolves Don’t Die is a love letter to our Ancestors. This beautiful story is full of cultural teachings and characters so familiar that I’m pretty sure we’re related.”
–Angeline Boulley, #1 NYT bestselling author of Firekeeper’s Daughter
“It is quite likely that I will never stop reading Where Wolves Don’t Die. First of all, it’s an excellent piece of writing, and second of all, each time that I would read through one section I would want to go back and read that section or another one over again. I enjoyed the writing so much because the author’s thoughts reflected mine in terms of what I knew my life to be and what I had hoped could have been. I think it is one of the best pieces of writing I have ever read.”
–The Hon. Senator Murray Sinclair, Chair of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Highlighted Review (Laurel on Goodreads)
Ezra is a thoughtful Ojibwe teenager growing up between the city and the a reservation. This first person narrative (read beautifully by the author) unfolds a story that has a mystery at the center but mostly is about Ezra figuring out how the world works – universal teenager stuff like being mad at your parents for things they can and can’t control, how to tell someone you have feelings for that you want to be more than friends, dealing with bullying, loss and grief, and homework.
And also the perspectives, traditions, beliefs, and experiences unique to being a Native American boy in modern society. Being part of a whole community who knows from centuries of violence and oppression of their people that they have no room for error in interacting with non-natives, that their brown skin and misunderstood culture subjects them to both child welfare involvement (rooted in state sanctioned kidnapping of whole generations of children) as well as police brutality and false arrest and conviction regardless of their culpability.
“Ezra, you’ll notice many kinds of moose in the woods…Moose can be dangerous. They are usually happy to eat lily pad roots and be left alone, but on the rare occasions when one attacks a human, it is not usually a big, mature, fully-antlered male who charges. The mostly likely moose to charge a person is a young bull, and that’s the moose who is most likely to be shot, or hit by the car. You see, Ezra, the moose is a metaphor for manhood. We often make our biggest mistakes when we are young. That’s when we are most likely to drive too fast and pay the price. To experiment with alcohol and drugs. To go on a date and not respect our partner. Or to hurt ourselves . If you want to live to be a big, mature, fully antlered bull, you have to act like one. You have to move a little slower and think before you act.”
All in all, it’s a beautiful story about connection and care set in a place and culture with such deep respect for nature and animals, a way of living with the earth with mutuality rather than depletion and exploitation. I would highly recommend it to YA as well as adult audiences.
Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to listen to and review this excellent audiobook.
About the Author
Dr. Anton Treuer (pronounced troy-er) is Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and author of many books. His professional work in education, history, and Indigenous studies and long service as an officiant at Ojibwe tribal ceremonies have made him a consummate storyteller in the Ojibwe cultural tradition and a well-known public speaker. In 2018, he was named Guardian of Culture and Lifeways and recipient of the Pathfinder Award by the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums. Anton’s first book for young adults, Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask (Young Readers Edition), won the SCBWI Golden Kite. This is his first novel.
