Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home.

Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire.

Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Plus don't miss Rosanne Parry's stand-alone companion novel, A Whale of the Wild.Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home. Includes black-and-white illustrations throughout and a map as well as information about the real wolf who inspired the novel. This gripping and appealing novel about family, courage, loyalty, and the natural world is for fans of Fred Gipson’s Old Yeller and Katherine Applegate’s Endling. Inspired by the extraordinary true story of a wolf named OR-7 (or Journey), this irresistible tale of survival invites readers to experience and imagine what it would be like to be one of the most misunderstood animals on earth. The trip is full of peril, and Swift encounters forest fires, hunters, highways, and hunger before he finds his new home. His journey takes him a remarkable one thousand miles across the Pacific Northwest. Then a rival pack attacks, and Swift and his family scatter.Īlone and scared, Swift must flee and find a new home. Swift, a young wolf cub, lives with his pack in the mountains learning to hunt, competing with his brothers and sisters for hierarchy, and watching over a new litter of cubs. Illustrated throughout, this irresistible tale by award-winning author Rosanne Parry is for fans of Sara Pennypacker’s Pax and Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan. This gripping novel about survival and family is based on the real story of one wolf’s incredible journey to find a safe place to call home. A New York Times bestseller! “Don’t miss this dazzling tour de force.”-Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal winning author of The One and Only Ivan

A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry