Listening to the Silence

Raised in the warm climate of the Santa Clara Valley on a vast estate, Buck was neither a pampered indoor dog nor one of the outdoor kennel dogs. He bridged both worlds, but belonged to neither. Until that all changed. At the onset of the Alaskan gold rush, he was stolen from his home and sold into the life of a sled dog. Intelligent and crafty, Buck quickly learned the laws of the North - fear the club, steal what you can, kill or be killed, and above all survive. He not only learned these lessons, he excelled at them. But these lessons also brought out something deeper and more primal, the call of the wild, which ran deep in Buck's blood. It was only a matter of time before his domesticated nature gave way to his wild heritage.

I found The Call of the Wild to be a great adventure about the struggle to survive and the thread of enduring love between Joe Thornton and Buck was a moving addition. Had I read this book as a young girl, I think it would have garnered a higher rating. It was clearly geared towards a younger audience, despite a vocabulary with which many of today's young people would struggle. It would be a perfect selection to read aloud with my seven year old son and I would recommend it to any young person, or adult, with a deep love and respect for animals and the natural world.