ShmoopTube

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Julie of the Wolves, a la Shmoop. With over 7 billion people clogging the planet,

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it's a pretty good bet that wherever you are, someone else is going to be there with you.

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So, if you're looking for a little privacy . . .

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. . . you might be out of luck. In Jean Craighead George's Julie of the Wolves,

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a young Eskimo girl named Miyax <<PronunciationMy-axe>>, aka Julie, finds herself alone. . .

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. . . and we mean really alone . . . . . . on the Alaskan tundra.

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Now, we're not advocating anything as drastic as playing Survivor In The Snow just to get

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a few minutes to yourself . . . . . . but Julie's predicament got us thinking.

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Would it be so bad to be stranded in the middle of nowhere for a while?

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Some things would be pretty sweet. Since no one has gotten around to building

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any schools on the frozen wilderness . . . . . . there wouldn't be any homework.

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At least not the kind of homework you're used to.

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The peace and quiet would be a beautiful thing . . .

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. . . even if you have to occasionally fend off your fellow companions, who look at you

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like you're an item on the Chipotle menu. But let's not concentrate on the negative.

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Not all of your wolf friends would be interested in having you for dinner.

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Some of them might be interested in becoming your new BFFs.

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Everyone knows that animals, at least the ones who aren't trying to eat you, are more

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loyal and trustworthy than most of the people you meet.

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They sure wouldn't be talking about you behind your back while you're off foraging for food.

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And while we're on the subject of food, you'd better pack a fishing pole.

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Not thrilled with fish? Well, you could always go vegan . . .

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. . . or work on that "30 Minute Meals for Caribou" cookbook

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C'mon. Admit it. Hanging out alone on the tundra is starting to sound better and better,

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isn't it? But wait. Roughing it means no TV. No iPods.

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No computers.

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You've had a hard day of foraging for food. Fending off wild animals. Building fires to

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keep warm.

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What's a kid supposed to do for entertainment? How would you feel about coming up with "101

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uses for snow" or "57 games that can be played with rocks"?

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We thought so. Hey, we never said being alone in the wilderness was going to be easy.

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But maybe the next time your teacher is bugging you for that missing homework . . .

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. . . or your parents make you spend an entire Sunday with an aunt and uncle you haven't

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seen since you were two . . . . . . that tundra might start looking pretty

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darn good. Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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