Classed as YA but a very grim book of the aftermath of nuclear war, with nuclear winter and a mother and child having to be 'adopted' by a wolf pack to have any chance of survival with even the animals being picked off gradually. Very sad. ( )

The wolf of shadows has always been bigger than the other wolves, but never had the desire to be alpha. However, his much bigger size and dominant personality keeps him from properly submitting to the pack leader, and as a consequence, he is not allowed to be a part of the pack. All this changes when the humans destroy the world.

This story is told from the Wolf of Shadows' point of view, and tells of how he became the alpha of his pack, and how two humans, a mother and daughter, become a part of that pack after human war causes a nuclear winter.

The wolf point-of-view is pretty fascinating, especially of the human concept of nuclear war. All the wolves know is that they're both freezing and starving to death. The Wolf of Shadows feels a pull to move south, and the human mother - an animal anthropologist of sorts? - realizes that these animals are better equipped to find shelter and food than she and her daughter may be.

This is a haunting tale of survival, a bit like McCarthy's The Road, for a younger audience (though not too young - before the war, the Wolf of Shadows' goes through the mating season with rather detailed descriptions of his discomfort).

Though the wolf doesn't understand the human's "growls," we the readers do, and get a sense of the human's desperation and fear, as well as the wolf's sense of confusion and worry.

Recommended for those who enjoy survival stories. ( )

I recall having a great fondness for this book in the sixth grade. It did not, however, live up to my remembrances in a recent re-reading. I still enjoyed it, but the quality wasn't what I remembered. ( )