Summary: An outcast boy and a young wolf have only each other against an Ice Age winter . . .
Kai
burns to become a hunter and to earn a rightful place among his people.
But that can never be. He was born with a club foot. It is forbidden
for him to use or even touch a hunter’s sacred weapons.
Cut off
from the other boys, Kai turns to his true friends, the yellow wolves,
for companionship. They have not forgotten the young human they nurtured
as an abandoned infant. When Kai discovers a motherless cub in the
pack, he risks everything to save her, bringing her back to live with
him.
But as winter draws near, Kai’s wolf grows ever more
threatening in the eyes of the People. When the worst happens, Kai knows
that they must leave for good. Together, they embark on a journey into
the north—a place of unimaginable danger—that tests the power of
friendship and the will to survive.
Award-winning author Susan
Williams Beckhorn delivers a tale set in Paleolithic times. Inspired by
modern discoveries, Susan’s careful research creates a vivid picture of a
time when the first wolves came to live with humans and forged a bond
that lives on to this day. (summary and image from goodreads.com)
My Review: This was a delightful happenstance of a book--I was at the library
searching for an entirely different novel, and when it wasn't there I
happened to glance down and saw The Wolf's Boy.
I ate this book up. I loved our main character Kai from the off, an underdog, considered tabat
among his people, an outcast, a curse. He doesn't even have a true
name. Yet even with that hanging over him, he longs to be a hunter,
something a person of his standing can never be according to ancient
traditions of his people. Despite being outcast, Kai was kind and
caring, and I loved the interactions between him and his younger
siblings, and of course his love and care for the wolf cub he adopts.
As well as his longing for the relationship lost between him and his
older brother.
This book was filled with awesome words that related to people and
things that gave this world a very real feel. Words like Ama and Apa
for mother and father, keerta for a warrior's weapon, and bah and bu for
girl and boy. Simple things woven through the text and dialogue helped
this feel like an authentic world.
I always love a good boy and his dog story. This was a tale set in ice
age France, when the first dog began to work with the first human. I loved
Kai's dedication to his wolf, named Uff, and how he needed her as much
as she needed him.
This was a great character story, and also a great adventure and
survival story set in a prehistoric time where mammoths, cave bears and
saber tooth cats roamed the land. A quick read too, but very
fulfilling.
My Rating: Four Stars
For the sensitive reader: Kai lives in a harsh eat or be eaten world,
but it's handled with taste. There are several accidents where
characters are injured, sometimes very badly, and there is talk of
blood. Animals are also killed for food.
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