“Love, genuine passionate love, was his for the first time. This he had never experienced at Judge Miller’s down in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. With the Judge’s sons, hunting and tramping, it had been a working partnership; with the Judge’s grandsons, a sort of pompous guardianship; and with the Judge himself, a stately and dignified friendship. But love that was feverish and burning, that was adoration, that was madness, it had taken John Thornton to arouse.”
Our hero, a dog named Buck is living his comfortable life in California with Judge Miller and his famliy when he is kidnapped and taken to the wilds of Alaska during the gold rush where he joins a team of sled dogs. In this new world Buck sheds the patterns of a family dog and reaches into himself to reconnect with his wild heritage.
Life is good. Buck bonds with the dog team and joins in the purposeful life they lead. But, the dog team is sold to an inexperienced lesser man and one by one the dogs fail.
What will it take for Buck to survive in the world of this man?
A classic quest story that delivers adventure and challenges both in the gritty setting and in the dog himself.
128 pages 978-0670867967 (Viking Whole Story series) Ages 12 and up (Image shown is the Scholastic series)
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
Editor's Note: There is another edition that is part of the Whole Story series published by Viking in the late 1990s. Edition includes sidebar facts and illustrations giving back matter and creating interest and curiosity beyond the story itself. Excellent series.
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From the publisher: "Rediscover Jack London’s beloved classic in this unique hardbound edition. First published as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post in 1903, The Call of the Wild has never been out of print.
Follow a dog named Buck through violence and hardship, loyalty and loss, finally finding himself and his home in the Yukon wilderness. Truly a must-have for London fans, book lovers, and adventurers."
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From the publisher: "Buck is a strong, intelligent dog who moves from his easy life in California to the Klondike. Life is tough in the cold north of Canada and Buck has to learn many hard lessons to survive. Buck meets dangerous men - and dogs - in this difficult snowy country. He changes because he has to change. But can he really be happy there? The life of Jack London (1876-1916) was as interesting as his books. People around the world love his stories about the lives of the people and animals of the north."
