Spirit Wolf (Wolves of the Beyond #5)

I love the way Kathryn Lasky writes. I really do. She describes landscapes as rich and beautiful as those of Brian Jacques while managing to address issues of spirituality, religion, tradition, family, and prejudice in surprisingly complex ways that (usually) are not heavyhanded and provide opportunities to discuss the issues with your child, if he or she is ready, or to ignore them and just enjoy the adventure. Her good characters tend to be unquestionably good, but they make mistakes and have growth and learning opportunities along the way, which keeps them interesting. Her evil characters can be deliciously evil or, in many cases, layered and capable of change. Some of the plot developments can get a bit grim. Spirit Wolf hits that note right off the bat, putting Faolin in a position where there's a lot he has to figure out in a hurry and requiring a tremendous amount of thought from wolves whose traditions have served them well but now need to be re-examined. My son is 11 and tore through this book. The vocabulary is easy enough for a 3rd grader to get through the book and learn new words from context (Lasky is very adept at this - her writing is just challenging enough without seeming stilted or artificially pedantic). The themes are accessible on many levels, which makes the book enjoyable for my now-fifth grade child and for me (WAY past fifth grade). I only wish the book had been longer.

I don't even have to say anything. I started reading guardians of ga'hoole at a young age, and I still absolutely love this series. by the way remember to make sure you add references from guardians book 13 river of wind. faolan is heading there, and I want to see some references from the blue owls. oops I just spoiled it. awesome series, my favorite right up there with erin hunter's warriors (all 4 series) and the bear book hunter wrote, I think it's called trackers.

My son loves this series. He also buys an audio version and reads along. The author develops the characters so well and draws the reader into thei world in a colorfully descriptive way. It is a bit detailed and has some animal violence. My reluctant reader can spend two hours with this book! I highly recommend for kids 10-14.

I was amazed by Kathryn Lasky's book. She wrote so well. I even thought the last sentence," A new beginning of an end of an old world," was a quote. She fascinated me not just by the story, but by the pictures in each chapter. I thought her second last book was the best among the six books. I would recommend it for 10+ ages. I was sad for Gwynneth that the Sark died. Also, the Namara too. I cried when animals died, but was happy when Faolan made a plan to bring the nine wolves, an owl, three pups and two cubs to the Distant Blue.

This entire series seems to be a huge hit with our son. Well written and keeps their interest to the very end. He can't wait to read the next one in the series.

I have loved all of the books so far in this series and this one does not disappoint! It makes me very eager for the 6th book! Lasky is a great writer, and if you liked her Guardians of Ga'Hoole books, you will love these too! Faolan is a great lead character, and you really feel for him!

Best condition

Great book. The continuing story of Faolan and Edme. The Beyond is shattered by earthquakes and the wolves have to figure out what to do when their world comes apart. The building of the new interspecies clan adds some new dimensions to the plot. Also provides a nice setup for the final conflict in the series conclusion. My 9 year old daughter loved the pace of the action, and she loved the addition of the bear cubs to the story.