ALA Booklist (Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 1997)

With the third novel in her Julie of the Wolves series, George takes a bold step, focusing on the wolf pack and leaving people on the periphery. The result is a well-researched and imaginative book that will fascinate some readers but may not appeal to those who want more of the human element. The story follows Julie's pack for several years, giving readers a vivid sense of how wolves live in their environment, what experiences they revel in, what conventions they maintain, and how they deal with threats. The lack of a clear, central conflict and resolution gives the narrative a diffuse quality. When Kapu, the main character through most of the book, is captured by researchers, readers may feel as lost as the other wolves, since the narrative continues following the pack rather than Kapu. His return to the wild at the end of the book brings the longest of several scenes in which Julie appears. Julie and her family are idealized here, and their speech has a wooden quality. Wendell Minor contributes several double-page illustrations, seen here only as preliminary sketches, and a very effective painting for the jacket. (Reviewed Sept. 1, 1997)

Horn Book (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1997)

In this third installment of the story of Julie Kapugen and her beloved wolf pack, Julie is only a peripheral character as the wolves themselves take center stage. The author's years of studying wolves are evident. However, because she is so scrupulous in not anthropomorphizing the wolves, and the only references to humans are through their interaction with the pack, the book reads more like a biologist's field notebook than a work of fiction.

Kirkus Reviews

Completing the switch in narrative view begun in Julie (1994), the sequel to Julie of the Wolves (1972), George continues her tale of the Avalik River pack entirely from the standpoint of its members: Kapu, the young new alpha; his daughter and successor, Sweet Fur Amy; Ice Blink, a lone wolf who carries rabies—and Willow Pup Julie, who lives in town but puts in appearances to inspect new pups or perform rescues. George invests all of her characters equally with expressive language, customary patterns of behavior, distinct personalities, and rich emotional lives. The wolfpack culture is complex and thoroughly articulated; readers who follow Kapu through seasons fat and lean, births, deaths, and challenges (serious, but always bloodless) to his leadership will be as devastated as the pack is when he is trapped and removed for a scientific experiment. Working mostly offstage, Julie engineers his return, but he does not rejoin the pack. The rhythms of life on the tundra are slow ones, and the only deaths George describes explicitly are those of wolves who succumb to the contagion that Ice Blink brings; the result is a story that flows at an even, deliberate pace, without—save for the brief outbreak of rabies—much suspense or sense of danger. The wolf's-eye view will draw new readers to the books, but fans of the first books, already well-versed in wolf society, may find many of the situations repetitive. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 11-13)"

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Keeping the focus on the wolves introduced in her Newbery-winning Julie of the Wolves, George writes """"with astounding intimacy"""" and """"complete command"""" of the animal world, said PW in a starred review. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8--Drawing upon her knowledge of wolf behavior, Eskimo culture, and Alaska, George continues the story of Kapu, the splendid male pup Julie nursed back to life in Julie of the Wolves (HarperCollins, 1972). This third adventure chronicles six years in the life of Kapu and his pack family. The animals are convincingly depicted with such respect and affection that readers will feel as though they too are in the wild rooting for the pack in times of famine, admiring Sweet Fur Amy whose unusual leadership abilities enable her to become an Alpha female, and feeling anger when Kapu is captured for research. The book is divided into three parts that suit the episodic plotting style; the strongest segment occurs in the middle when a lone female infected with rabies joins the pack, threatening the lives of its members. The writing is laden with natural descriptions and keen observations, some of which interrupt the story's flow, but this rich detail is also the book's strength. The perspective of the wolves is effectively maintained, but their encounters with hunters, veterinarians, and government researchers provide a framework for the different factions that must learn to coexist if this resilient yet fragile species is to survive. Those who have enjoyed Julie's story thus far will want to read this latest encounter in which she grows up, attends college, and comes full circle back to the tundra, this time to study her beloved wolves with her new husband, Peter Sugluk.--Caroline Ward, Nassau Library System, Uniondale, NY