Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Another Newbery winner. I've been reading them on my phone slowly while nursing instead of checking Facebook or Instagram the last few weeks, and it has been refreshing. I know I read this one at least once as a child, but I had no recollection of it. I liked some parts of this book, and didn't like others as much. I thought learning about the language of the wolves, and the way wolves interact and work together as a pack, was fascinating. I especially liked reading the author's note at the end about how she learned all of this about the wolves by visiting Alaska and learning about them there. I thought all of the things that Miyax does to survive were amazing, and I was very impressed with her knowledge and ability to survive out there. I thought all of that was worth the read. But I was really disappointed in the backstory about Miyax and why she was running away and especially in the ending where she finds her father. I don't know that there was anything really wrong with them--it just felt really sad and depressing. The whole book kind of a little bit felt like cultural appropriation as well. Plus, the dialogue was distractingly slow. Also, you don't learn that her English name is Julie until like 2/3 of the way through the book (right?) so why is it titled Julie of the Wolves? Why not Miyax of the Wolves? But overall, worth a read and I can imagine any animal-obsessed child would love this book.