Book Talk for Wild Life

Written Transcript:

One of my all time favorite books is Wild Life by Cynthia DeFelice. The genre of the book is realistic fiction. The main character, Erik, gets sent off to North Dakota to live with his grandparents for a few months. There, Erik finds a dog and grows attached to her, naming her Quill. When he has to return the dog, he panics knowing he will have to give away his one true friend out in the middle of nowhere. To solve the problem, he runs away, thinking that he can handle the wild all by himself with Quill, but when he runs out of supplies he knows he is in trouble. 

Throughout the book, the mood changes a lot. The mood starts off gloomy, but then changes to a cheerful mood. When Erik runs out of supplies and can't find food, the mood becomes stressful and serious. I believe the theme of the book is that you can't run away from your problems. The author portrays this by having Erik, literally, run away from his problems.

I like Wild Life because the book has tons of adventure and suspense. It also shows a fantastic example of dog being man's best friend. That's one of the main reasons I really like this book. You see, I'm a huge dog-person so I enjoy books that portray the relationship between dogs and humans as well as this one did. The part I remember most is when Erik first found Quill. It introduced her in a suspenseful way, but when Erik saw it was just a dog, he approached her, connecting to her instantly. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure and risk taking because Erik takes so many risks just to keep Quill and have the time of his life. I feel like anyone who is watching this, should read this book. It sends the reader on an emotional roller coaster that impacted my life a lot and I think it will for you, too.