Where Wolves Don’t Die
by Anton Treuer
read by the Author
Recorded Books, 2024. 7 hours, 4 minutes.
Review written March 11, 2026, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review
2026 American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book
I loved every minute of this audiobook. I’m so glad it won Honor from the AIYLA, because I’d completely missed it in 2024. (They give the award every other year, but so many great books are being written by indigenous authors lately, I hope they increase it to every year.)
The book begins with teen Ezra Cloud thinking about how much he hates living in Minneapolis with its gray snow. And since his mother died of cancer – which she surely got from working at the factory – Ezra has a hard time even looking at his father.
Then Ezra sees Matt, the kid who’s long been his bully, harassing his best friend and secret crush Nora. Ezra only just manages to keep from punching Matt. He punches a locker and breaks his hand instead. That night, when under the influence of painkillers, he dreams about a group of wolves burning down a house – and the next day Matt’s family home, which housed a meth lab, has burned down, and Matt’s father and uncle are dead.
The next time Matt sees Ezra, he claims he saw Ezra at the fire. There’s a detective poking around. Ezra’s sure he couldn’t have been there, but his father wants Ezra well out of the way. So they go to see his grandparents – on a reserve in Canada – for Christmas, and Ezra stays after to spend the winter with his grandpa working the traplines.
Most of the book is in remote Canada, Ezra in a cabin with his grandpa, learning the lore of trapping – and lore of their people thrown in. He also has a chance to work through some emotional baggage. There are moments of great danger, and mystical encounters with wolves – and by the time they’re back from the trapline, there’s still the mystery of who set the fire to clear up.
So this is a book with its share of survival, mystery, and danger – but what I truly loved about it was the emotional depth. Truly a wonderful book to listen to.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/where_wolves_dont_die.html
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