Written by: Michelle Paver
Katherine Tegen Books, 2005
304 pages
This is a story of action and adventure, realistic with a bit of fantasy thrown in for good measure. Being the realistic fiction junkie that I am, the level of fantasy was just enough to stay believable. Left to fend for himself after a demon bear kills his father, twelve year-old Torak sets off to find the Mountain of the World Spirit and honor a promise to his father to defeat the bear and save the forest, and all those in it, from total destruction. Soon, Torak is soon accompanied by an orphaned wolf pup, who serves as his guide. The pair have no shortage of captures, escapes, close encounters, and wild adventures, all while avoiding death by the ever-growing demon bear.
It started off as a self-imposed homework assignment. A book I'd passed by numerous times, but never picked up. When I discovered my sixth grade students were reading Wolf Brother for a summer assignment, I figured I had better take a peek. Little did I know, it would quickly become a top favorite. I flew through the pages in hours, needing to find out what happened next. Paver is excellent at building suspense and filling readers with just enough fear to make this read truly exciting. I made my way through some of this book while sitting in Starbucks and I'm quite certain I caused a few people to look at me and stare as I gasped aloud and held my hand over my mouth, anxious to find out how Torak and Wolf would get out of their never-ending binds.
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