12,128 books
—
82,460 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Julie of the Wolves (Julie of the Wolves, #1)” as Want to Read:
Julie of the Wolves
(Julie of the Wolves #1)
by
Alone and lost—on the North Slope of Alaska
Miyax rebels against a home situation she finds intolerable. She runs away toward San Francisco, toward her pen pal, who calls her Julie. But soon Miyax is lost in the Alaskan wilderness, without food, without even a compass. Slowly she is accepted by a pack of Arctic wolves, and she comes to love them as though they were her brot ...more
Miyax rebels against a home situation she finds intolerable. She runs away toward San Francisco, toward her pen pal, who calls her Julie. But soon Miyax is lost in the Alaskan wilderness, without food, without even a compass. Slowly she is accepted by a pack of Arctic wolves, and she comes to love them as though they were her brot ...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, Harper Trophy, 176 pages
Published
July 2nd 1995
by HarperCollins
(first published 1972)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Julie of the Wolves,
please sign up.
Popular Answered Questions
Melissa
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Julie of the Wolves (Julie of the Wolves, #1)

at first I thought Julie's observations of wolf behavior to be overly simplistic. It's not just a matter of adopting their vocal cues to one another that will allow you to approach a wild wolf and gain its trust and friendship.
however, after a while I attempted some of the wolf behaviors on my 2 dogs, and was surprised that they seemed to work and be understood. Imagine pippen's surprise when I bit the top of her nose the first time! heh
the grunt whine means come here.
the licking of the chin and ...more
however, after a while I attempted some of the wolf behaviors on my 2 dogs, and was surprised that they seemed to work and be understood. Imagine pippen's surprise when I bit the top of her nose the first time! heh
the grunt whine means come here.
the licking of the chin and ...more

Every writer should read this little Newberry winner.
Why?
I'm glad you asked, and I am so happy to answer.
Every writer should read this little Newberry winner to learn. . . that a book with a fast-paced narrative that is "readable" may not only sell well, it may also win a prestigious book award! A book with horrible dialogue may still be read over and over again in classrooms everywhere, so, it turns out, you don't need to waste any further time on making dialogue authentic! Whew! What a relief! ...more
Why?
I'm glad you asked, and I am so happy to answer.
Every writer should read this little Newberry winner to learn. . . that a book with a fast-paced narrative that is "readable" may not only sell well, it may also win a prestigious book award! A book with horrible dialogue may still be read over and over again in classrooms everywhere, so, it turns out, you don't need to waste any further time on making dialogue authentic! Whew! What a relief! ...more

A reminder of what the world was like to live in Nature and with nature.
It took me a while to read this and it had little to do with the story and mostly to do with time. I'm so glad I finally read this story. I find this story to be quite powerful and the message of living in balance with nature is quite a powerful theme and call. Julie has knowledge of how to survive in the wilderness. That knowledge is so valuable. People should make money by letting people pay to come for a week or two and l ...more
It took me a while to read this and it had little to do with the story and mostly to do with time. I'm so glad I finally read this story. I find this story to be quite powerful and the message of living in balance with nature is quite a powerful theme and call. Julie has knowledge of how to survive in the wilderness. That knowledge is so valuable. People should make money by letting people pay to come for a week or two and l ...more

Sep 21, 2011
Catie
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Catie by:
Wendy F
3.5 stars
I’m glad that this is getting re-released, because I think that it deserves to find a new generation of fans. This book is very short (less than one hundred pages) and simply written, but I found it very affecting nonetheless.
The story opens with the Eskimo girl Miyax lost, alone, and starving in the Alaskan wilderness. Her only hope of survival is the nearby wolf pack, and the long ago memory of a tale that her lost father told: of one hard winter when he appealed to a wolf leader for ...more
I’m glad that this is getting re-released, because I think that it deserves to find a new generation of fans. This book is very short (less than one hundred pages) and simply written, but I found it very affecting nonetheless.
The story opens with the Eskimo girl Miyax lost, alone, and starving in the Alaskan wilderness. Her only hope of survival is the nearby wolf pack, and the long ago memory of a tale that her lost father told: of one hard winter when he appealed to a wolf leader for ...more

Oct 09, 2007
Cathy
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
hannah and sylvia
Shelves:
banned-books,
newbery
This book won the Newbery award in 1973. It is really excellent and quite an amazing story! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Because my husband LOVES Alaska so much, he also read it. Well, I love Alaska too!! We would go back there in 2 split seconds if our children weren't here instead of there.
ALSO this book has been challenged often and can you guess why? Well, these are the ones I could find:
"socialist, communist, evolutionary, and anti-family themes; references to family alcoholism, abuse, and div ...more
ALSO this book has been challenged often and can you guess why? Well, these are the ones I could find:
"socialist, communist, evolutionary, and anti-family themes; references to family alcoholism, abuse, and div ...more

I remember reading this book as a kid and being absolutely fascinated by the descriptions of the ways the wolves (and Miyax) interacted and communicated with each other. I can't credit a single book for igniting my interest in animal intelligence, but if I absolutely had to, it'd probably be this one. It's interesting to look back on this book both as a product of its time (wolf packs in the wild don't really structure themselves into those strict hierarchies; this has long since been disproven)
...more

"Miyax was not without things to do. When she was not hunting, or carving, she danced, sewed, chopped wood or made candles. Sometimes she tried to spell Eskimo words with the English alphabet. Such beautiful words must be preserved forever." (PG. 153)
John Newbery Medal--1973
I have been on a literary journey reading John Newbery Medal winners or honorees and I have learned that this does not mean jackShhh for me. Some of these books are total duds. I haven't read a wowzer of a winner. Like I can ...more
John Newbery Medal--1973
I have been on a literary journey reading John Newbery Medal winners or honorees and I have learned that this does not mean jackShhh for me. Some of these books are total duds. I haven't read a wowzer of a winner. Like I can ...more

The author spent a summer watching and studying the behaviors of a wolf pack in Denali. She had seen a young woman walking the tundra alone. The story is inspired.
Julie of the Wolves is a story about Miyak's journey from leaving a frightening situation behind at a very young age, to find her way, to her pen pal in San Francisco. She is lost in Alaska with no food and no way to shelter herself from the tundra. During her journey she is torn between a Gussak (Julie) way of life or is the Eskimo (M ...more
Julie of the Wolves is a story about Miyak's journey from leaving a frightening situation behind at a very young age, to find her way, to her pen pal in San Francisco. She is lost in Alaska with no food and no way to shelter herself from the tundra. During her journey she is torn between a Gussak (Julie) way of life or is the Eskimo (M ...more

I decided it best to reacquaint myself with this story since it had been such a long time between my original read and this review and let me just say what a difference time has had with this one. My memories were of this little girl who happened to make friends with a pack of wolves while traveling from point A to point B, which consisted of some mildly dangerous wilderness.
WRONGO
Adult me looks at this story now and sees sad. Buckets of it. From beginning to end there is just a whole hell of a ...more
WRONGO
Adult me looks at this story now and sees sad. Buckets of it. From beginning to end there is just a whole hell of a ...more

Mar 22, 2020
Evelina | AvalinahsBooks
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Evelina | AvalinahsBooks by:
Jackie B. - Death by Tsundoku
Shelves:
family,
books-of-2020,
childrens,
fiction,
favorites,
middle-grade,
other-cultures,
human-relationships,
scribd
How I read this: free trial of Scribd
I was absolutely in love with Julie of the Wolves – I finished this story in an evening, and I was so sorry it ended so fast. This story is not only a celebration of the Inuit (Eskimo) culture, it’s also a lovesong to other, non-human cultures – I mean animals. The story focuses on wolves and how they adopt a girl who has got lost in the tundra because she was running away from a dangerous situation at home. The love for nature, for the natural (even if harsh ...more
I was absolutely in love with Julie of the Wolves – I finished this story in an evening, and I was so sorry it ended so fast. This story is not only a celebration of the Inuit (Eskimo) culture, it’s also a lovesong to other, non-human cultures – I mean animals. The story focuses on wolves and how they adopt a girl who has got lost in the tundra because she was running away from a dangerous situation at home. The love for nature, for the natural (even if harsh ...more

***Wanda's Summer Carnival of Children's Literature***
Although I know that I read Julie of the Wolves when I was about 11 years old, I could not recall a single detail of it, just a general impression that it had been an enjoyable book. I think I got much more out of it reading it as an adult!
What I can truly appreciate now is the wonderful depiction of the natural world, the Arctic environment. The author spent some time in Alaska, doing biological research, and her knowledge of the area just ...more
Although I know that I read Julie of the Wolves when I was about 11 years old, I could not recall a single detail of it, just a general impression that it had been an enjoyable book. I think I got much more out of it reading it as an adult!
What I can truly appreciate now is the wonderful depiction of the natural world, the Arctic environment. The author spent some time in Alaska, doing biological research, and her knowledge of the area just ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

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 ...more
Going back to it now, I was a little shocked by ...more

According to this book, to survive in the tundra you might need to drink from a wolf's teat, collect upchucked food from furred friends, and stuff your pockets full of excrement for fuel. It also doesn't hurt to be be very, very optimistic about life and your chances of survival in general. According to Kapugen, Julie's father, when you're feeling fear you need to change your position. So, when Julie begins to fear life among a new family, she changes position by walking out into barren landsca
...more

I was cleaning out my Rubbermaid tub of books I’d purchased when I started out in teaching and came across a trilogy that was perfect to transition to vacation reading! We are on our way to Alaska and I’m re-reading a book with (hopefully) wisdom and maturity on my side. This book is on the Canadian Grade 5 reading list and has won the Newbery Medal for American children’s literature. It is also on the ALA’s most frequently challenged (banned) books. I remembered loving it as a child and so I wa
...more

Just a beautiful book with a wonderful heroine. I did not read any Jean Craighead George books when I was a kid for obvious reasons--but read a couple of her books to my daughter when she was a child in the 90s. But I didn't read this one about an Inuit girl who learns survival in the Alaskan wilderness--with the help of wolves. Glad I found it in a booksale and I read it in one night. Just wish I could read it to my daughter, but she's 33 now....I understand there's a sequel?? I will look for i
...more

I've loved this series since I was young. Of course, I've loved wolves since I was very young, so it always appealed to me in the best way. Suffice it to say, it holds up in an adult reading; I still actually felt teary at one point. That medal was well-deserved.
...more

Enjoyable, interesting, educational, but .... sad. I'm glad I finally read it, though :)
...more

I was a little bit curious when I saw this book on Netgalley. It's not like the other new releases. Mainly because it's not new at all. It's a Newberry Medal winner published in 1972 repackaged for the ebook market with a shiny new cover (which I like).
Aside from the curiosity two things drew me: Alaska & Eskimos (any variety of Native Americans has this effect on me). Child me loved stories involving Native Americans, obsessively so. I even built a wigwam in the woods once with sticks no joke. ...more
Aside from the curiosity two things drew me: Alaska & Eskimos (any variety of Native Americans has this effect on me). Child me loved stories involving Native Americans, obsessively so. I even built a wigwam in the woods once with sticks no joke. ...more

Actual rating: 3.5 stars, rounded up.
When I was 9 years old, I picked up Hatchet for the first time, because all of the boys in my class were obsessed with it. I immediately shared their obsession and had to find anything else that featured a young person surviving alone in the wild. I read the rest of Brian’s Saga, and The Island of the Blue Dolphins, and My Side of the Mountain and the books that followed. I also read this book and the rest of the trilogy. I haven’t read Julie of the Wolves in ...more
When I was 9 years old, I picked up Hatchet for the first time, because all of the boys in my class were obsessed with it. I immediately shared their obsession and had to find anything else that featured a young person surviving alone in the wild. I read the rest of Brian’s Saga, and The Island of the Blue Dolphins, and My Side of the Mountain and the books that followed. I also read this book and the rest of the trilogy. I haven’t read Julie of the Wolves in ...more

Ever reading a book and as it's getting to the last 20-30 pages you feel like you don't want it it end? I really enjoyed this, and it makes you look at the wilderness, and animals in the wild on a different light. If you do not like wolves, you will likely feel differently after this. The girl in the book has a sad past and you feel for her and are wanting things to work out for her. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy "Swiss family Robinson" , "the hatchet" or "life of pi"... It's that
...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

I read this book to my girls many years ago. It is a Newberry Award winner. Both the imagery and descriptions of the wolves amidst the seemingly barren landscape are quite extraordinary for a children’s book. The story itself of the young girl living alone on the Tundra was not in any sense believable but otherwise it gets an A for the writing and the ability to capture the angst of being a teenager.
4 stars.
4 stars.

May 24, 2017
Tiffany PSquared
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
childhood-memories,
favorited
There was something about his book that drew me in. It was one of the only books that I would read over and over again. I thought no one was as brave as Julie, making her life in the wilderness with a family of wolves.
I loved this book then and it still brings me fond memories.
...more
I loved this book then and it still brings me fond memories.


Julie of the wolves Book Report
By: Katharine B.
If you plan to read this book then DO NOT read this book report, due to SPOILERS!
Introduction
The author of the Newberry award winner of Julie of the Wolves is "Jean Craighead George" and the pictures were made by "John Schoenherr". Jean Craighead has also written books called "My side of the mountain" “the talking earth" and a few others. John Schoenherr was the illustrator of the books called "Gentle Ben" "Owl moon" and some others. The genre of t ...more
By: Katharine B.
If you plan to read this book then DO NOT read this book report, due to SPOILERS!
Introduction
The author of the Newberry award winner of Julie of the Wolves is "Jean Craighead George" and the pictures were made by "John Schoenherr". Jean Craighead has also written books called "My side of the mountain" “the talking earth" and a few others. John Schoenherr was the illustrator of the books called "Gentle Ben" "Owl moon" and some others. The genre of t ...more

This fascinating story is about Julie, or known as her Inuk name Miyax, who is trying to reach her San Francisco pen pal while in the Arctic tundra where she lived with her cold hearted aunt after her father died while hunting. Meanwhile, she’s now living with a wolf pack and starts to bond with the wolves and see them as her family.
While it’s storytelling takes a while to follow, it’s a harrowing adventure in the wildlife and about finding where you belong. Julie’s story about her early life an ...more
While it’s storytelling takes a while to follow, it’s a harrowing adventure in the wildlife and about finding where you belong. Julie’s story about her early life an ...more

Sep 29, 2020
Anna
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2020-reading-challenge,
childrens
This book is very beautiful, but also very sad.
Popsugar Reading Challenge 2020: Read a banned book during Banned Books Week
Popsugar Reading Challenge 2020: Read a banned book during Banned Books Week

Nov 21, 2017
Alissa Patrick
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
2017reading-challenge,
books-for-amelia-sydney
3.5 Stars

Nov 09, 2018
Overbooked ✎
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
classics,
children-ya
3.5 stars
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Children's Books: The Newbery books of 1973 - Julie of the Wolves- D&A October 2021 | 21 | 33 | Oct 29, 2021 05:28AM | |
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. YA fiction. Girl is raised by wolves, she might have wandered away from her family into the wilderness. Set in the Arctic. [s] | 11 | 38 | Feb 11, 2021 06:07PM | |
Play Book Tag: Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George, 3.5 stars | 1 | 8 | Oct 18, 2020 03:58PM | |
Play Book Tag: [Poll Book Tally] Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George rounded up to 4 stars | 1 | 7 | Sep 27, 2020 05:22PM | |
Play Book Tag: (Poll Ballot Tally) Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George - 4 stars | 1 | 6 | Sep 26, 2020 10:10AM | |
Play Book Tag: [Poll Tally] Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George | 5 | 18 | Mar 16, 2020 08:35AM | |
Play Book Tag: (Poll Ballot) Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craigshead George - 3 stars | 3 | 14 | Feb 21, 2020 02:42PM |
721 users
715 users
405 users
325 users
290 users
257 users
247 users
233 users
87 users
Jean Craighead George wrote over eighty popular books for young adults, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves and the Newbery Honor book My Side of the Mountain. Most of her books deal with topics related to the environment and the natural world. While she mostly wrote children's fiction, she also wrote at least two guides to cooking with wild foods, and an autobiography, Journey
...more
Other books in the series
Julie of the Wolves
(3 books)
Related Articles
This is a fun one: For the collection below, we decided to take a long-arc overview and try to identify the most popular books published over...
531 likes · 97 comments
5 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“The scenes and events were beautiful color spots in her memory.”
—
17 likes
“Change your ways when fear seizes," he had said, "for it usually means you are doing something wrong.”
—
11 likes
More quotes…