Brother of the wolves

In the past, I have recommended "When the Legends Die" by Hal Borland and "The Light in the Forest" by Conrad Richter to my young cousins and relatives who are interested in reading more about Native American cultures. However, this small novel with terrific pencil drawings by Steve Marchesi has become one of my all time favorite novels about young Native American people who struggle with their own identity and discernment of life. The story is about a toddler who is found in a wolf's den by a Lakota medicine man, Shadow Fox. The boy's parents were killed in an avalanche and a she-wolf had found the baby and taken him in and raised him as a pup. As Wolf Brother grows up in Lakota society, he is teased and taunted because of his ongoing relationship with the pack of wolves which lives in the area. Shadow Fox and other elders approve of the relationship, knowing that the "wolf child" has been sent to the people by the spirits. As he grows up, Wolf Brother is continually tormented and belittled by Looks-Away and other children. His friend, Spotted Pony, is always true to Wolf Brother in spite of the hardships of being a friend to one who is treated as a pariah. Occasionally, Wolf Brother goes to visit his wolf relatives who receive him each time with love and care. The wolves even bring food to the people when they are on the verge of starvation. After Looks-Away returns from his vision quest with a disturbing vision of Wolf Brother and his wolf family attacking the village, other members of the village begin to believe that their misfortune is due to the presence of Wolf Brother. Wolf Brother heads out to his wolf family, leaving the village and humans behind him. However, he knows that he is also not a wolf. In his attempt at becoming one with the wolves, Wolf Brother touches "wakan"--the true unity of reality. "Sometimes, especially at night, he felt as though he had become almost invisible. His edges blurred and melted, blending into everything else, until he was no longer separate, but a part of everything around him. He felt that when he walked, he left no footprints but moved without disturbing the smallest leaf or pebble. He could pass through the trees and come out whole on the other side, but in the moment of passing he became on with the tree. His skin became the bark and his arms and legs were the limbs, forever fastened to the earth and yet growing and changing with a whole life of their own." As the story unfolds, Wolf Brother receives his vision without anticipation or expectation. He returns to the village and carries his responsiblity of sharing his vision with the people. The vision ultimately saves the people and they accept Wolf Brother in his wholeness. This is a highly enjoyable novel with its terrific pencil drawings by Steve Marchesi. I do hope that it will be republished soon. I can only give this book my highest recommendation.