Lorenzo Licerio Reviews Campfire's *Call of the Wild*

Title: The Call of the Wild
Author: Jack London
Adapted by: Lloyd S. Wagner
Artist: Sachin Nagar
Publisher: Campfire
Publication Date: 2010

This novel gives the reader a great sense of the harsh life that both men and beast confronted in the great Alaskan wilderness at the turn of the century. It tells the story of a dog that, unwillingly, is taken into a great journey. Through this journey, he discovers the kindness and evil that is within some men and animals. It also helped him find his most basic animal instincts. This would serve him in surviving and discovering his true nature and calling in life.

I thought the story in this novel had a good flow to it. It kept me interested in the characters and plot. I think the liberal use of color in the artwork really kept the story alive. I enjoyed the novel overall and would recommend it.

The main character in this novel is the dog Buck. The story is told by Buck’s character and there are no children in it. I think the story was fast paced. It didn’t dwell too long on any particular subject, and that kept the story flowing. It dealt with the subject of dogs, which I think is always a favorite of young adults. I think the negative treatment of them will surprise and challenge the emotions of some children. The graphics did help in visualizing the story and helped in understanding it.

I don’t think there were many elements of the “best of the best” in this novel. There was no young person in the story for young adults to relate to. That takes out of the list most of the” best of the best” elements in young adult literature. That been said, I still think it has some good qualities.

Although it doesn’t have some of the criteria that identify most young adult literature, I still like some of the other elements within it. The struggle to survive is a theme that does resonate in the life of a teenager (not always to the extent of life and death, but surviving teenage life, with all its complexities.) There was some optimism in the dog surviving, form harsh weather, the fights for sled leader, to the mistreatment from the men. The dog also started to get the feeling that his true call was to roam free in a pack. He would get visions of that and would eventually join and lead a pack of his own. The graphics in this novel I think is another element that would attract the youth into reading it.

I think the colors were used adequately and in the right amount. There were times when the artist would use only white and dark lines, which would give the effect of the cold and snowy terrain of the area. Some times he would use bright colors in the portrayal of the mountains, forests and rivers. I especially liked the dark red color he used in the background of the Buck’s dream of the Indian warrior dancing around the fire.

Even though the novel had no young protagonist as the main character, I would still recommend this novel. I don’t think this would be a novel for anybody below middle school age. Some of the violence depicted against the dogs would be a little too graphic for younger children; especially the way the men treat dogs. I especially think high school students would enjoy the nature of life in those times.