(Poll Ballot Tally) Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George - 4 stars

[annapi]

Miyax, a 13-year-old Eskimo girl, runs away from her husband and an intolerable life and gets lost in the Arctic. To survive, she befriends a wolf pack and learns to live off the land.

I have long had this book on my TBR, since I was a child and first heard of it, but somehow I never got around to reading it until now. I loved the author's descriptions of the Arctic wilderness and the wolves' interactions. I never expected the story to end in sadness, though. George does a good job of depicting the two conflicting halves of Julie/Miyax in simple terms and ideas young children can understand - her Eskimo side versus the white man's world that is encroaching on the Natives. Excellent book for its target audience.