Booktalk #1

Swift is a young wolf cub, living among his pack, learning how to survive in his mountain home.  He is secure and happy as he learns the important lessons taught by his parents and his siblings.  This all ends when his family is attacked by a rival wolf pack, and Swift and his siblings must scatter in an effort to survive.

Swift is left alone and embarks on a journey that takes him more than 1,000 miles across the Pacific Northwest, where he searches for others of his kind. He makes his way through forests and flatlands, over water and across highways, and faces dangers he never learned about from his mother. Swift faces devastating hunger, hunters, and forest fires, but never loses his spirit to find a family of his own. 

This tale is based on a real wolf, OR-7, who made this incredible journey on his own. While told from the perspective of Swift, the book ends with facts about wolves, as well as photos of the real-life inspiration for this story, who truly did wander toward a new home.   (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award, 2021)

Booktalk #2

Swift grew up in a close-knit wolf pack, in which he and his siblings were nurtured and taught valuable survival skills by the elder wolves. The lessons proved to be vital. When a rival wolf pack attacked, Swift’s family members were either killed or forced to flee for their lives. Swift found himself alone and homeless - and so begins his journey. Initially he searched for other survivors from his family; later he sought a new territory. Alone and grieving, Swift traveled through mountains, prairies, and deserts, contending with rivers, men with rifles, a cougar, and a forest fire. It’s a gripping and moving story, sympathetically told from the wolf’s point of view. Read this incredible tale of survival and find out why Swift renames himself….Wander.  (Vermont Middle Grade Book Award, 2021)