TeachingBooks
Where Wolves Don't Die

Book Resume

for Where Wolves Don't Die by Anton Treuer

Professional book information and credentials for Where Wolves Don't Die.

See full Book Resume
on TeachingBooks

teachingbooks.net/QL9IHXK

  • School Library Journal:
  • Grades 8 and up
  • Booklist:
  • Grades 9 - 12
  • Publisher's Weekly:
  • Ages 12 and up
  • Kirkus:
  • Ages 12 and up
  • TeachingBooks:*
  • Grades 9-12
  • Cultural Experience:
  • American Indian
  • Genre:
  • Mystery
  • Realistic Fiction
  • Year Published:
  • 2024

The following unabridged reviews are made available under license from their respective rights holders and publishers. Reviews may be used for educational purposes consistent with the fair use doctrine in your jurisdiction, and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the rights holders.

Note: This section may include reviews for related titles (e.g., same author, series, or related edition).

From School Library Journal

Starred review from July 1, 2024

Gr 8 Up-Ojibwe teen Ezra stands up to Matt, the school bully for harassing Nora, his crush, and injures himself. The next day, he and Nora learn Matt's family perished in a house fire, and Matt, who survived, is blaming the fire on Ezra. Ezra's father Byron takes him up to "Red Gut," their reservation in Canada, to stay with Grandpa Liam and Grandma Emma. He is told he will help Grandpa work the trapline-a dream come true for him to learn hunting and survival skills. Ezra is free from the tricky situation at school and begins to process his mom's death, which strained his relationship with his dad, at their isolated trapping cabin. A long-buried family secret is revealed, and he learns how far Grandpa Liam will go to protect their family and friends. The narrative is well written with Ojibwe language scattered throughout. Grandpa Liam constantly educates Ezra on their history and culture, which sometimes sounds like a textbook. Ezra's struggles with a crush, loss of a parent, and a bully will resonate with readers. Parts of the ending are predictable, but there is a twist. Stylistic sketches of a wolf begin each chapter, since Ezra's family is wolf clan, and a bear sketch starts each section. Ojibwe translations are included, along with an author's note. VERDICT A great first purchase for all libraries, with a unique hero's journey for Ezra as he begins to assume adult responsibilities.-Tamara Saarinen

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Horn Book

July 1, 2024
Fifteen-year-old Ezra Cloud wishes he were on the rez at Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation with Grandpa Liam. Instead, he is stuck in northeast Minneapolis, being bullied by Matt Schroeder. When Matt's house burns down just hours after they have a fight, Ezra's father worries about suspicion falling on his son and decides that Ezra should go to the rez to be with his grandparents in Canada while the police investigate. As Ezra learns more about Ojibwe culture and activities (including hunting and trapping), he begins to heal from the loss of his mother a year earlier and let go of his long-held anger toward his father. He also learns family secrets that change how he understands himself and those around him. In his introspective and compelling debut YA novel, Treuer weaves Ojibwe history and traditions with contemporary concerns for Ojibwe teens. Readers also bear witness, via the grandfather character's memories, to the violent impact of the residential schools on families and children. Back matter includes an Ojibwe glossary and an author's note that acknowledges changes made to real-life stories and customs for narrative effect. Nicholl Denice Montgomery

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Booklist

May 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Treuer (Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask, 2021) immerses the reader in Ojibwe culture in this suspenseful novel of wilderness survival. At school in Northeast Minneapolis, Ezra tolerates Matt's bullying. But when Matt targets his friend Nora, Ezra snaps back. That very night, Matt's house goes up in flames. To shelter Ezra from a potentially racist police investigation, his father sends him deep into their Canadian tribal lands to work the trap lines with Grandpa Liam for the second half of ninth grade. Ezra welcomes the distance from his father, whom he blames for his mother's recent death from leukemia. And Ezra is excited to share his grandpa's small hunting cabin, learn the sacred ways of the harvest, and navigate a Ski-Doo around the isolated lakes and forests north of the Minnesota-Ontario border. Visits to their Nigigoonsiminikaaning community on the rez give Ezra a chance to Zoom with his teachers and text with Nora. The details and pure physicality of running the lines are vivid and fascinating, and Grandpa Liam is a character for the ages, filled with love, knowledge, and humor. The pace accelerates when treacherous terrain, threatening wildlife, family secrets, and Matt's vow of revenge spill into an extended fight for survival. Ezra's growth--in strength, skill, responsibility, and empathy--is hard-won. An essential illumination of contemporary Indigenous life.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

April 22, 2024
Ojibwe teen Ezra Cloud hates his Northeast Minneapolis home; he's tired of the bullying he endures from his peers regarding his heritage ("White people didn't have to live that kind of fear," Ezra thinks). He much prefers the surroundings of Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation, his
reservation on the other side of the U.S.-Canada border. The taunting becomes more personal for Ezra when bully Matt torments Ezra's Ojibwe friend. That night, Matt's father and uncle die in a house fire, and Ezra is the prime suspect. To escape police suspicion, Ezra's father sends him to Nigigoonsiminikaaning, where he will work the winter trapline with his grandfather. While navigating the snowy wilderness, he learns about
the animals of the area, as well as his grandfather's past. He also struggles with unresolved anger at his father over his mother's death while working at a dangerous lumber company. This leisurely paced novel by Ojibwe author Treuer (Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask, for adults) contains immersive detail about trapping methods as
well as Indigenous tales about the natural world, making for an intriguing if meandering adventure. Ages 12—up.

From Kirkus

April 1, 2024
A fire changes a 15-year-old boy's life in this fiction debut by noted Ojibwe scholar and author Treuer. Ezra Cloud, a member of the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation in Canada, lives in Minneapolis with his professor father, Byron. When the home of bully Matt Schroeder--"just the kind of colonizer who would've been a perfect fit in the US 7th Cavalry in 1890, trying to kill innocent Lakota children with a Hotchkiss gun"--mysteriously burns down the night after a public altercation between Matt and Ezra, the police want to question Matt's classmates. Byron arranges for his son to give his statement over Zoom and takes him back to the rez, where Ezra is thrilled to learn he'll be working the trapline for the winter with Grandpa Liam. Ezra's a strong student who must still do his homework and check in with teachers when he has internet access, but otherwise he'll be focusing on wilderness knowledge. Alongside issues such as racism, Ezra's first-person perspective thoughtfully explores grief: His mother passed recently, and he's angry and has a rocky relationship with Byron. The novel positively portrays Indigenous characters through characterization that embraces and affirms the parallel paths of traditional ways and formal schooling. Byron is a caring father who wants to be involved in his son's life during a trying time. The Cloud family are wolf clan, something referenced in Pawis-Steckley's striking Anishinaabe woodland art-style digital spot illustrations. A nuanced adventure centering family and growth. (Ojibwe translations, author's note) (Fiction. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From AudioFile Magazine

Anton Treuer does double duty as narrator of his debut novel, set largely in the wilderness surrounding the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation, north of the Ontario-Minnesota border. Working with Grandpa Liam on his trapline, 15-year-old Ezra Cloud grapples with grief at the recent loss of his mother. It's an affecting story, but, sadly, Treuer is less gifted as a narrator of long-form prose than as a writer. His voice is pleasant and light, well suited to this earnest Ojibwe teen's interiority, but his delivery is halting, and his rendition of Ezra's conversations with his best friend, painfully wooden. His characterization of Grandpa Liam is delightful, but that may not be enough to engage listeners. This is one audiobook kids may be better off reading. V.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

Where Wolves Don't Die was recognized by committees of professional librarians and educators for the following book awards and distinctions.

Where Wolves Don't Die was selected by educational and library professionals to be included on the following state/provincial reading lists.

United States Lists (1)

Explore Where Wolves Don't Die on Marketplace. Access requires OverDrive Marketplace login.


This Book Resume for Where Wolves Don't Die is compiled from TeachingBooks, a library of professional resources about children's and young adult books. This page may be shared for educational purposes and must include copyright information. Reviews are made available under license from their respective rights holders and publishers.

*Grade levels are determined by certified librarians utilizing editorial reviews and additional materials. Relevant age ranges vary depending on the learner, the setting, and the intended purpose of a book.

Retrieved from TeachingBooks on January 31, 2025. © 2001-2025 TeachingBooks.net, LLC. All rights reserved by rights holders.