KAVIK THE WOLF DOG

by Walt Morey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 26, 1968

The knockabout, turnabout saga of a wolf dog who loses and regains his courage, heeds and renounces the call of the wild. Raised as a championship lead sled dog, Kavik at two is aloof, obedient and fierce and a prize for Alaskan-artifact collector George Hunter, who buys him to display at his Seattle home. On the way the plane bearing Kavik's cage crashes, leaving him helpless behind bars: he's barely alive when fifteen-year-old Andy Evans finds him, nurses him back to health, and teaches him trust. But he has lost his nerve--a pack of curs can rout him. This then is the situation when Hunter returns, and disbelieving Andy's Dad (that the dog is a coward), reclaims him. Seattle is shame and confinement, and Kavik escapes: he wags his way north on a fishing boat and then runs wild--with a mate he fought to win. After her bullet-wound death, Kavik resumes his journey, and finally arrives, staggering and half-starved, at Andy's village. Again Hunter returns--but this time Andy's Dad talks him down, offers to sail Hunter's seiner (Dad's been a coward too) in return for Andy's keeping Kavik. Elements of every dog story maybe, but spun off with stunning intensity and, until Dad's conversion, with surprising conviction. Fans of the genre will devour it.

Pub Date: Aug. 26, 1968

ISBN: 0140384235

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1968

Categories: FICTION