Wild Thing: Or My Life as a Wolf

Gr 5 Up–Every dog has his day, but Silver doesn’t really feel like it’s his. Put into service as a sheepdog, he quickly wearies of his work and makes a foray into the wilderness, where he finds a hard-earned kinship with a pack of wolves. Junior explores freedom and domestication from a dog’s-eye perspective. While on the prowl with his canine compatriots, in encounters by turns beautiful and brutal, Silver sees the interconnectedness of nature and the uncomfortable unavoidability of interaction with human civilization. Ultimately, his ties to society get the best of him and his lupine cohort, and with blind trust he guides them straight into the hands of zookeepers. Junior recounts this tale without much melodrama, suggesting, perhaps, that a dog can learn new tricks but he may not shake his old ways. The illustrations are the story’s strongest suit. Mostly seen from a dog’s point of view, they’re full of bold, natural hues and are a bit jagged with the nervy action of wolves on the move. Though the subject matter and plot will appeal to the middle grade set, some may be put off by the use of profanity (“bastard,” “ass”).