Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Julie's Wolf Pack was written only after George had learned more about the relationships of wolves in a pack.

It was only after her son, Craig, moved to Alaska that George 'felt ready' to write the sequel Julie. Readers and students communicated to George their desire to read more about Julie 'several years ago', but George felt that she 'did not know enough about the Eskimo culture'. In the process of writing the novel, George went through three drafts, and used numerous titles including 'The Voice of the Wolf' 'Wolf! Wolf?' 'Wolf Girl' 'The Cry of the Wolf' and 'Wolf Song'. The character of Miyax/Julie is based on an Inuk woman named Julia Sebevan, who taught George 'about the old ways of the Inuits '. Upon remembering the Inuk girl walking by herself on the tundra that she and her son Luke saw on their way to Barrow, she decided to write a book about a young girl surviving on her own in the tundra by communicating with wolves. George herself successfully communicated with a female wolf. She allegedly witnessed a man bite the wolf on the top of its nose and communicate with it in soft whimpers, and 'the incident stayed with George'. Īt the Barrow Arctic Research Lab, George observed scientists who were studying wolves and attempting to break their communication code. As they flew into the Barrow airport, she and her son spotted a young Inuk girl on the tundra, whom her son said 'looked awfully little to be out there by herself'. In 1971, Jean Craighead George and her son Luke went on a trip to Barrow, Alaska, to do research on wolves for an article for Reader's Digest. George wrote two sequels that were originally illustrated by Wendell Minor: Julie (1994), which starts 10 minutes after the first book ends, and Julie's Wolf Pack (1997), which is told from the viewpoint of the wolves. Set on the Alaska North Slope, it features a young Inuk girl experiencing the changes forced upon her culture from outside. Julie of the Wolves is a children's novel by Jean Craighead George, published by Harper in 1972 with illustrations by John Schoenherr.

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George