Jean Craighead George wrote a book that was a staple of my childhood: Julie Of The Wolves.

It’s a book about a very young (like thirteen years old) native Alaskan girl who was an orphan and made to marry an abusive guy that doesn’t even want to be her husband. And that’s just the beginning of the book.

She decides to run away from that crappy situation (an attempted rape that was the last straw for her) to try to reach a friend who lives far away, but gets hopelessly lost on the Alaskan tundra.

Her only hope for survival is to draw on the traditional ways of her people and possibly befriend a wolf pack she comes across.

Apparently Jean Craighead George came up with the idea to write Julie Of The Wolves while on a trip to Barrow, Alaska to do research for an magazine article on wolves.

She had brought her son along for the trip and while in a plane he spotted an Eskimo girl by herself on the tundra. Her son commented that the girl “looked awfully little to be out there by herself.”

While in Barrow she saw many people communicating with wolves and met a woman called Julia Sebevan who taught her about “the old ways of the Eskimos.”

After having so much inspiration in Alaska Jean Craighead George went back home and decided to write a story about an Eskimo girl trying to survive alone on the tundra, basing the main character on Julia Sebevan.

Julie Of The Wolves went on to win many awards, including the Newbery Medal. And despite being a book that was one of the most frequently challenged by parents during that decade (due to the rape scene) it actually made it on to the shelves of my school library.

I drank up all stories about Alaska when I was a kid so when I saw the cool looking cover of Julie Of The Wolves and that the book was about Alaska it was a sure thing that I was going to take it off the shelf and finish it by the next day. I ended up liking the book so much that I bought my own copy and ended up reading it many times over.

So yeah what a loss to have Jean Craighead George pass away, she was such an amazing storyteller. I’m glad she had ninety-three years of life and that she decided to write Julie Of The Wolves, RIP.

They thought they had lost their loved ones forever.

But she created new worlds where they could be found, sometimes for the very first time.

—

And so concludes another successful Jennifer Hint Memoir Month :).

This last one is about something that Jennifer does in her spare time that makes a powerful impact on a lot of people’s lives, helping them through times of grief and often shining new light on their own histories.

Even though it’s something of a hobby for her it’s such a selfless one and comes from such a deep sense of caring for others that ‘hobby’ seems an inadequate word to describe it.

That just goes to show what an awesome and beautiful person she is though, even in her spare time she’s working to help people and make their lives better. I love you Honey, happy birthday!

She carried the gigantic, unwieldy rake out to the back yard.

Soon the neighbors were raked right out of their house and onto their roof.

 

Jennifer Hint Memoir Month

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Feel free to post your own hint memoirs in the comments too if you want I’d love to read em :).
 

 

‘Found it!’ she said, as we sat packed for the plane.

There he was for all to see… no war hero, but a violent felon.

 

Jennifer Hint Memoir Month

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Feel free to post your own hint memoirs in the comments too if you want I’d love to read em :).
 

 

At the airport table she became aware of a presence.

Turning slowly her eyes met the plastic blue gaze and frozen stance of The Watcher.

 

Jennifer Hint Memoir Month

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Feel free to post your own hint memoirs in the comments too if you want I’d love to read em :).
 

 

The hint memoir for today tells a story about the place she was born. You may have known that she was born in Japan but there’s another aspect to her birthplace that might surprise you…

THE KARATE KID (HINT MEMOIR)

She disarmed the knife wielding man, quickly throwing him down.

What else would you expect from someone born in the same place as Mr. Miyagi?

 

Jennifer Hint Memoir Month

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Feel free to post your own hint memoirs in the comments too if you want I’d love to read em :).
 

 

Gripping the Ka-Bar tightly she walked out the door and on to the back porch.

The unwanted visitors were soon hacked to pieces.

 

Jennifer Hint Memoir Month

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Feel free to post your own hint memoirs in the comments too if you want I’d love to read em :).
 

 

It’s been quite a while since I did a hint memoir so I’m dusting off the scissors so I can trim down my sentences …so they don’t ramble on and on like this one and make me go over the twenty-five word limit :p.

Here goes thirty one days of Jennifer hint memoirs, this first one is about something that happened late last year…


THE ADOPTION

She rescued him just in time.

His first Thanksgiving would be spent on a warm home rug instead of the concrete shelter floor.

 

Jennifer Hint Memoir Month

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Feel free to post your own hint memoirs in the comments too if you want I’d love to read em :).
 

 

We stepped cautiously, hoping to avoid premature dives into the wet grass. Of course the names would be in the giant fish… but which one?

 

What is a hint memoir?

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Feel free to post your own hint memoirs in the comments too if you want I’d love to read em :).
 

 

We heard loud commands in German and vicious barking coming from the deep woods. Unfortunately it was also coming from right next to the treasure.

 

What is a hint memoir?

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Feel free to post your own hint memoirs in the comments too if you want I’d love to read em :).