Julie of the Wolves (Julie of the Wolves #1)

by Jean Craighead George

When Mom connected with someone, she maintained a strong friendship throughout her life. Mom always liked “real people” without pretense, and she identified with the North Slope Inupiat, which makes sense because Inupiaq literally means “real or genuine people” (inuk ‘person’ plus -piaq ‘real, genuine’) in the Inupiaq language. Julie’s stalwart personality in Julie of the Wolves is clearly a tribute to those friendships and the people of Barrow.

“When the wolves are gone there will be too many caribou grazing the grass and the lemmings will starve. Without the lemmings the foxes and birds and weasels will die. Their passing will end smaller lives upon which even man depends, whether he knows it or not, and the top of the world will pass into silence.”