Independent Reading Level: Grades 6-8
Awards: Newbery Medal

#1286 in our old book database. Rated: Good.
Adele rated: Indifferent. ( )

I read this book as a teenager and loved it. I was fascinated by the animal body language and the details have stuck with me, all these years later. One of these days I'd like to revisit it with an adult perspective. ( )

Survival Fiction: Children’s Novel Human vs. Nature, Tradition vs. Assimilation
-George, Jean C. Julie of the Wolves Illus by John Schoenherr. Harper & Row, 1972, 170 pages, Intermediate

-Julie of the Wolves is an exhilarating tale through the eyes of a 13-year-old girl named Miyax. This story, with few but powerful illustrations, takes place in the Alaska North Slope where Miyax is trying to survive with a pack of wolves and later battles the luring effect of the western world through her pen pal Amy. After a major event occurs towards the end of this quick-paced, action packed story the young girl again battles between traditional values and assimilation to gussak (white man) culture.

-Keywords: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Inuit/Inuk, Tradition, Assimilation, icehouse, North Slope

-Activity: Read another book about assimilation and Alaska native struggles and have students write a reflection on the similarities they notice between the two books. ( )

Julie of the Wolves
1/24/24

Childrens books
Chapter book

Julie of the Wolves
Realistic fiction Chapter book Adventure, Wilderness and love.

George, Jean Crraighead Julie of the Wolves Illus John Schoenherr, ne: Harper Collins Publishers 1972. 170pages Primary

Through the eyes of a 13 year old you get to experience the writers lovely tale, It is set in the top of the world and on Nunivak Island it is a Native Alaskan epic tale of adventure about a girl Miyax who narrates her life lost in the wild and how she was taken from her father Kapugen to attend school. Then went on to an arrange marriage at age of 13. To family in Barrow, she was fond of them at first till her husband tried to forced himself on her and her friend Pearl told her about running away which she did with her help and she found her self lost and made the most peculiar friendship with a pack of wolves (amaroq, kapu, silver, nails, zing, zat, zit, sister, Jello). Julie and Kapu create a bond with each other so strong it saves them both. This story was written as if it was told by an elder telling us stories they often forget and go back at different settings that all tie together. The illustrations look to be pencil.

Plot lost on the tundra.
Characters Julie AKA Miyax, Amaroq, Kapu, silver, nails, zing, zat, zit, sister and Jello
Setting The far north wilderness
Theme Alaskan native adventure
Style narrative
Tone for me the tone was inspiring and loving.
Point of view was through the eyes of a 13 year old.
Illustrations look to
What you think of the book ( )

This read this again as part of my current 'nostalgic re-reads' movement. I'm going to have to call this, along with 'Island of the Blue Dolphins' my "formative reads".

2023 - 1970’s Immersion Reading Challenge

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (1972) 170 pages.

READING LEVEL 5.8 AR POINTS 6.0
(5th grade...more or less)

Setting: Alaska North Slope - Nunivak (Miyax born) and Point Barrow (Miyax lived when married) and Alaska tundra (Miyax ran away and got lost), New Hope (trying to get to), Kangik (where she found her father, who betrayed the Inuit principals).

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, maybe because I really respect the spirit of all the indigenous people. They really seem to know and understand and are closer to nature than us “gussaks” (meaning: white people in Inuit language).

It was the cultural change, forcing the Inuits to conform to society that sent Miyax to run away into the Alaska tundra where she used some survival skills her father had taught her. She also learned the ways of the wolves and was accepted as a part of their wolf pack, even if from a distance. When the lead wolf, Amaroq, was killed by sporting hunters, Miyax had to make a decision to either conform to the gussak’s way of life and live among them, or remain loyal to her Inuit way of life.

You will learn some true facts about the wolf, their habits and communications, and some of the skills the Inuits might use to survive extreme cold…40 to 50 degrees below zero; therefore, I would say this is more historical fiction rather than just fiction. I actually can’t give this a straight up 5-star because I couldn’t envision or understand some of those things that 13-year-old Miyax, an Inuk girl, was making for her survival. But, they were very short, so I just moved along.

According to wikipedia, this story is based on an Inuk woman named Julia Sebevan, who taught George the ways of the Inuits.

Sequels

#2 Julie (1994)
#3 Julie’s Wolf Pack (1997) ( )

FROM AMAZON: “Miyax had been lost without food for many sleeps on the North Slope of Alaska. The barren slope stretches for three hundred miles from the Brooks Range to the Arctic Ocean, and for more than eight hundred miles from the Chukchi to the Beaufort Sea. Winds scream across it, and the view in every direction is exactly the same. Somewhere in this cosmos was Miyax; and the very life in her body, its spark and warmth, depended upon these wolves for survival. And she was not so sure they would help.” - from Julie of the Wolves.

When Miyax walks out onto the frozen Alaskan tundra, she hopes she is leaving problems at home far behind. Raised in the ancient Eskimo ways, Miyax knows how to take care of herself. But as bitter Arctic winds efface the surface of food, she begins to fear for her life, and turns to a pack of wild wolves for help. Amaroq, the leader of the pack, eventually accepts Miyax as one of his own defenseless cubs, protecting her from danger and saving portions of the daily kill for her. But as Miyax makes her way nearer to civilization, her life with the wolves, as well as all that she has come to learn about herself, are challenged as never before.

Julie of the Wolves is a controversial story about a young girl by the name of Miyax otherwise known as Julie surviving in the wilderness of Alaska after fleeing an arranged marriage and the relationships, she builds with the wolves who help her survive as she attempts to escape to San Francisco. The tone is often serious but sprinkled with hope and the illustrations support these tones as they are black and white, sketched, but add supportive imagery. Due to Alaskan Native’s request to have it removed and its brief description of implied assault and domestic violence, I will not be using this book in my classroom.
Alaska Connections: The story is based on the Tundra in Alaska and has a lot of references to Alaskan towns, animals, language, and people.
Related Activity: Discuss and practice outdoor survival skills with Alaskan Native Elders. Discuss the importance of safe, healthy relationships and consent. ( )

9788420469706

Thirteen-year-old Yupik girl Miyax (Julie Edwards Miyax Kapugen) is orphaned and extremely alone, both in life and in the Alaskan wilderness. At the beginning of the story, we encounter Miyax somewhere outside of Barrow, Alaska, having left her husband and life there. As she befriends a wolf pack, we learn more about her past and dreams for the future, with Miyax caught between Alaska's past and its future.

I read this when I was little (I think we listened to the book on CD in the car), and it was really nice to come back to it again. ( )

I hadn't read this book since sixth or seventh grade. I dug it out of one of my old boxes while organizing things for my boy. I remembered liking it, but I didn't remember just how great it was. I've upped this book from 3 to 5 stars. Perhaps my memory wasn't very good, or perhaps my tastes have changed. ( )

Life for 13-year-old Eskimo girl Miyax has become miserable. Her mother died when she was young, then her father disappeared on a hunting trip. So then she was forced into a prearranged marriage to a mentally handicapped boy, also only a child. So she runs away, to try to reach her pen-pal in San Francisco, because it sounds in the letters like life is all good there.
The tale is told in three parts. In the first part, Miyax (her English name is Julie) is alone in the Arctic, surviving largely because she has succeeded in befriending a small pack of wolves which she convinces to accept her as one of their own.
The second part is all flashback, telling the tale of how Miyax came to be alone on the tundra trying to get to San Francisco.
The third part goes back to her journey, and brings it to its conclusion.
A sad but satisfying story. ( )

Miyax (Julie), a child bride, is alone, lost, and starving in the tundra after she flees her unhappy marriage. Her only hope is integrating herself into the pack of wolves nearby as her father once did long ago. Miyax dreams of an easy life in San Francisco with her pen pal who calls her Julie. This is a story of conflict between the two identities and traditions of Miyax and Julie. ( )

Ah the arctic... My favorite setting. with wolves my fav animals... ( )

00001348

00000878

Poignant, thoughtful read, for higher elem to middle school. Teaches skills for the wild and appreciation for Alaska. Sad at the end!

Grades 3-7 ( )

This book took me time to read. The bond between "Julie" and the wolves is very nice. The story is good, and I re-read this book many times. That said, I didn't get into the story without skipping around to the wolves. I wasn't as interested in HER as I was them. Kapu, Amaroq, Silver and even Jello are fleshed out despite not saying a word. ( )

Just wanted to re-read this book to see if it's as good as I remember. It is! Was totally immersed once again in the Arctic ecosystem, but this time round I actually noticed the more personal aspects (like why Julie/Miyax left and went into the wilderness). When I read this the first time I cared mostly about the wolves, and completely idolised Miyax for how she could read nature's signs and communicate with animals. Honestly that's still true, but this time I'm less inclined to want to follow in her footsteps.

Anyway, give this book to your children. Read it yourself. It's beautiful.

Discovered from the back of this edition that there's a film, so I'll be looking that up soon. Will probably read the sequels too (now I know they exist). ( )

Miyak Kapugen is an Eskimo girl who lives in Alaska in the late half of the 20th century. Her mother dies a few years after Miyak's birth, her father who is a great hunter and teaches Miyak old Eskimo ways of living and hunting, disappears on a canoe trip, and she lives with her great aunt Martha. At 13, Miyak lives with one of her father's old friends Naku, an alcoholic, and marries their mentally slow son. After deciding she hates living how she does, treks to San Francisco, where her pen-pal Amy lives, always asks her when she'll live there too, and gains an American name Julie. When heading to Point Hope, she loses track of time, eventually starving, and attempts to join a wolf pack, and slowly but steadily she gains recognition. The leader she names Amaroq, her 'adopted father', silver, his partner, nails, the friend, Kapu, a juvenile wolf, three pups, and Jello, the lone wolf. Throughout her travel, Julie sees almost all the wolves as family, but Jello is agrressive and steals her food when she is starving, and Amaroq kills him for stealing food form one of his 'cubs.' When the pack almost gets to the point Hope, hunters from a plane kill Amaroq and wound Kapu, and Miyak realizes what monsters the gussaks (White people) are, and decides not to head to San Francisco anymore. When she realizes that being in the wolf pack threatens the others' life because of society, Julie disbands from the pack and builds her own house. There, an Eskimo family stops by and tells her a man named Kapugen lives in their village, and Julie decides to trek there. When she finds her father, he is Americanized and Julie despises him, but when she decides to live traditional eskimo way instead, her pet bird dies, and she decides to go back to civilization.
I really enjoyed this book. It made me feel different about nature and how corrupt modern society is. I loved the relationshhip between the Eskimo and the wolves, and how she broke the species barrier and made peace. I also like how Julie realized that American life ( modern life) was not all that great and people there are taught to kill for money and pleasure. It makes me want a deeper connection to nature and this inspired me to want to explore Alaska someday. Would recommend this book to Wolf lovers, nature lovers, and those who take interest in Native American History and ways of living. ( )

I love this series, I've read book 3 the most and I really enjoyed going back to the beginning and meeting everyone again. ( )

I read this to help a student I was tutoring. Very poignant story. ( )