Lonely Wolf Pup. (Wild Paws, No. 2). Susan Hughes. Illustrated by Heather Graham. Markham, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2003. 81 pp., pbk., $5.99. ISBN 0-439-98985-X. Subject Headings: Wolves-Juvenile fiction. Animal rescue-Juvenile fiction. Animal shelters-Juvenile fiction. Grades 2-5 / Ages 7-10. Review by Luella Sumner. *** /4

excerpt:

Max showed Sarah a photo that she had printed from her computer. A beautiful wolf with long white fur was running across a snowy plain. "Wolves are really amazing animals! They live in many different habitats. They live in the tundra of the north. They can live in forest, swamps, mountains and grasslands." She grinned. "I read that they baby sit each other's pups. They're loyal to the members of their pack. And they have amazing hearing. They can hear a mouse squeaking under a snowbank, and they can hear one another howling from three or four miles away!"

Sarah held out one of the printouts that Max had given her.

"But look at this!" she said. "It gives me the shivers!" It was a photo of a wolf showing its teeth. It was standing over a dead deer.

"Well, wolves do have to eat, just like any other animal." Max said matter of factly. "And I read that they usually don't kill more than they can eat." She looked her friend in the eye again. "So what do you think?"

"I don't know...." Sarah said. "Couldn't we at least wait until after Tuesday....after Hallowe'en night?"

Maxine Kearney loves animals. Volunteering at Wild Paws and Claws Clinic and Rehabilitation Centre with her best friend Sarah, and younger brother, David, and helping to care for wild animals in need, is like a dream come true. One night as Max is leaving Wild Paws, two disguised figures drop off a young wolf who is caught in a trap. Although the wolf pup isn't harmed, he's scared and alone. Abbie tells Max that they must find the pup's wolf pack before it moves on without him. But where did he come from? Only the people who dropped him off would know the answer to that question. Max and Sarah need to come up with a plan to find the mysterious strangers and the information they need before it's too late. Max names the pup Solo and helps to look after him, respecting the rules that forbid too much human contact with a wild animal lest it become too accustomed to people. Max and Sarah hatch a plan to have a Hallowe'en party at the centre. Their handouts advertising the party contain a secret message to the persons who dropped off the trap....tell us where you found the wolf so that we can reunite him with his family. The night of the party, the wolf pack comes searching, sending their eerie howls over the countryside, helping out with Max's plan to find Solo's family. Abbie tells Max to open the gate on Solo's cage, and the young wolf, at first tentatively, then with confidence, runs out to rejoin his family. Max and Sarah are happy, and Sarah has overcome her fear of wolves. The young stranger talks to Sarah about finding the trap, and one of the neighborhood men says he will speak to the person who set the trap to persuade him to stop.

     This book is the second in the "Wild Paws" series. Max, the enthusiastic lover of animals, is a young girl, possibly about 11-years-old, since her younger brother is now in Grade 3. The characters are all engaging and entertaining, the dialogue lively, and a lot of information is packed into the story. The humane treatment of animals and the philosophy of returning creatures to the wild instead of keeping them in cages are emphasized. The children are perhaps drawn larger than life in their enthusiasm for work and research, and cleverness in dealing with adult problems, but the overall impression left by the story is positive.

Recommended.

Luella Sumner, a retired public librarian, lives in Red Rock, ON.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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