Book Review:Red Wolf by Jennifer Dance

This young adult novel is set in the Algonquian  wilderness of Ontario, Canada, in 1885 and tells the story of Red Wolf, young Native boy and a wolf named Crooked Ear who forge a friendship as they face the encroachment of the white man to their lands. When Red Wolf is wrenched from his family by the Indian agent who takes him to the Christian boarding school where life is wretched at best and he is forced to abandon his native ways, he finds a friend in the orphan wolf who follows his trail. The story shifts from the perspective of Red Wolf to the perspective of the wolf as life for Red Wolf becomes more unbearable. With wonderful voices and character development, Dance has done a masterful job of depicting the injustices the coming of the white man brought to both the Native peoples and the wolves. A great read.