Call of The Wild

Have you ever gone thousands of miles in the freezing Alaskan winter? Buck and his friends did. Buck is a big dog who was sold because gold was found in Alaska. Many people were rushing there to collect their fortune and were getting there with a dog team and sled. Jack London's Call of the Wild told a great story about standing up for what you believe in.

Spitz was an older dog on Buck's first team. Although he was old and wise he was incredibly strong and cunning therefore, he was the leader of the team. This bothered Buck because he knew he should be the leader. This caused lots of tension and Buck and Spitz always seemed to be quarreling. Finally, one day it came to a head. Buck and Spitz knew it was a fight to the death and the remaining dog would rightfully be the leader. They began to fight with all the other dogs around watching. Spitz came off strong, but in the end, Buck used his intelligence to win the fight. Buck took a stand for himself because he knew he was the rightful leader even when others doubted him.

The setting of this book was in Alaska. Most of the book took place during the bitter winter. Everything was frozen including all the rivers. Snow covered the ground and the dogs buried themselves under it to keep warm at night. Towards the end of the book, spring began to emerge. All the ice slowly started melting and life was once again moving around.

Buck is sold many times throughout the book. He once finds himself owned by men named Hal and Charles. They also are accompanied by Charles's wife, Mercedes. These people are not prepared at all for the harsh Alaskan environment. They don't realize all the work and preparation that must be done before heading out to find precious gold.

At first on the trip, the dogs were fed well, too well. The food supply ends up running out before the trip is anywhere near over. This caused the dogs to start losing lots of weight and become really weak. On top of that, Charles, Hal, and Mercedes made the dogs travel extreme distances with little or no rest. The dogs were in horrible shape and a few even died. One stop they made was at the camp of John Thornton. When it was time to leave, Buck was called to get back in his harness at the front of the sled. Buck was so weak he could barely move so he decided it was time he took a stand against Hal and Charles. When he refused to get up, Hal started beating Buck severely. Buck was already in so much pain that the blows from the club barely bothered him. He just stayed on the ground and took the punishment. Then, it was John Thornton that took a stand. He told Hal that he needed to stop beating Buck. He stood up for Buck and as a result, Buck got to stay at John Thornton's camp.

Call of the Wild was an interesting book. I learned information about dog sleds, Alaska, and dog behavior. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about dogs or overcoming obstacles. This book was an easy read and fairly short. It would be great for either boys or girls.