Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In this young readers’ edition of McIntyre’s Rise of Wolf 8 (2019), Yellowstone wolves grow, play, and adapt to a new environment. Distilled from the first of a veteran naturalist’s five-volume set of wolf observations, this account profiles several wolves, focusing on two in particular: a small cub designated “Wolf 8” who was one of the first group of wolves brought from Canada to repopulate Yellowstone National Park in 1995, and Wolf 21, who grew up in Wolf 8’s adopted pack and went on to be another pack’s alpha male. Coming in at about a third of the original’s length, the narrative focuses on wolfish behaviors that will seem familiar to young readers—family relations, protective instincts—while keeping references to human presence to a minimum. McIntyre does chime in occasionally with personal reflections, and individual wolves are sometimes hard to keep track of, since they’re all designated by numbers. Still, readers will feel as if they’re watching the games, hunts, and other incidents from within the pack rather than outside. Both wolves are cast in heroic molds as the authors retrace the course of Wolf 8’s unusually long life, from bullied runt to courageous alpha. McIntyre and Poulsen suggest that he was the source not only of Wolf 21’s hunting skills, but also of that leader’s unusual practice of leaving beaten challengers alive. Final art unseen. Notable for drawing clear parallels between human and lupine behavior without resorting to anthropomorphic devices. (afterword by Potter) (Nonfiction. 10-13) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.