Mel Ellis (1912–1984)

A pet wolf has killed a valuable show dog, so now posses are scouring wooded areas nearby to execute the animal in the name of justice. A young teen decides to lead his pet deeper into the Wisconsin wilderness where the vigilantes cannot locate him.

Another boy in the wilderness type of story but without as much emphasis on survival techniques. There is some violence and blood but it is not described in a graphic manner, so this should be okay for pre-teens and up. Overall a good read, a "gotta find out what happens" page-turner for me.… (mer)

Boy and his pet wolf go on the run after the wolf kills a valuable, pedigreed dog that was pestering it. At first he's chasing his wolf to try and catch it- even though he raised the wolf from a pup, it doesn't let him come close enough to touch. When he doesn't return after a while, people assume the wolf killed the boy, and armed hunters with dogs come after them. Now boy and wolf are fleeing in earnest- he can't stand to see the wolf killed and can't figure out how to recapture it. It's companionable enough, but won't follow back to the kennels where they lived. So they strike out north, for a forested area devoid of people where the boy has heard a wolf pack lives. He wants to introduce his wolf to the pack hoping they'll accept him and the wolf can live free in the wild.

Most of this is an adventure story, the journey through the woods trying to find shelter, food, and evade capture... Even though the writing style didn't really appeal to me, I really liked how realistic the wolf's character was written- its modes of communication and wariness reminded me a lot of those in Julie of the Wolves. Appreciate that even though there's quite a lot of killing (of rabbits and birds for food), it's very matter-of-fact, and made clear that it's done by necessity. I think kids -especially those who like adventure stories (such as those by Gary Paulsen) and animals would find this book more exciting than I did, though I like it well enough to look for a few more by this author.

more at the Dogear Diary… (mer)