ORDINARY WOLVES, by Seth Kanter

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KANTER,S.

Critics have compared this debut novel to the works of Jack London. the plot: Abe Hawcly settled in the wilderness of remote Alaska in the early 1970's. His wife returned to civilization, leaving him with three children to raise and educate. Cutuk, the youngest, grows up intimately connected to nature. His lifestyle in the igloo with his siblings is so basic that it is alien even to the Native Americans in the nearby town who prefer the modern trappings of tvs and snowmobiles.

After being home-schooled for most of his life, Cutuk attends the public high school where he, just like any other boy, falls for a girl.

Discriminated against because he is white, he eventually tries to live in Anchorage with a friend but finds urban life confusing. Cutuk returns to his simple life. An engrossing read.

THE GRASS DANCER by Susan Power

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POW

Susan Power is a Sioux from Chicago with a B.A. from Radcliffe, a J.D. from Harvard, and an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writer's Workshop. For all these academic credentials, this book is very nonacademic and readable.
Power focuses on a group of North Dakota Sioux who are in touch with the past and the magic of nature. Tribal spells abound and ghosts are an everyday presence that is accepted by the members of the tribe.
Written in vignettes, this is a wonderful book that does not deal with day-to-day existences of Native Americans, but concentrates instead on their spiritual lives.