Book Review of Snow Dog

Snow Dog, by Jim Kjelgaard

5 stars!

Description: In a northern wilderness that is ruled by a killer wolf who hates mankind, a northern fur trapper loses his dog. The trapper's search for the dog proves fruitless, and when he gives up, we follow the trail of the dog and her pups as they fight and live and grow and die in their quest for survival, ever stalked by the menacing wolf and his pack. At last, the trapper meets one of the grown pups - but the two have little time to overcome their mutual wariness before they are faced by a growing threat in the forest. The snow has grown deep and the game scarce, and the now-starving wolf pack has come back to finish the job it started years before.

Concerns: It's a wilderness, and it can be savage. Wolf/dog fights, several casualties (including a man). One wolf in particular is frequently and flippantly called a devil. One matter-of-fact and innocent reference to a... female dog.

Summary: Set in the harsh and yet fiercely beautiful forest deep in the north country, this is an enthralling tale of a fierce struggle for survival. Reads like an old western or Royal Canadian Mounted Police story, but this time about a trapper and his dog. The description of the frozen wilds is fascinating; wild creatures include everything from the moose and snowshoe rabbits to the lynx and the grizzly bear, the rivers and marshes are almost visible on the pages, and the struggles and triumphs of the hard life are almost real as the glint of savagery in the eyes of the wolves. A favorite from the first time I read it.