[Lindsay 7] White Fang by Jack London

I love books with animals as main characters, and this is definitely a great one. White Fang is part dog, part wolf, and the book covers the periods of great change in his young life as he leaves the wilderness he was born into and enters the dominion of man. It is divided into five parts, the first of which establishes the harshness of the cold northern setting, and introduces White Fang's mother. Part two covers White Fang's birth and discovery of the world around him in his young puppyhood, and parts three through five show White Fang's development and transformation as he comes to end up with various owners. The focus of the novel is less on plot and more an exploration of the reasons White Fang becomes the dog that he does, using both nurture and nature elements. London's writing is satisfyingly rich without being overly pompous, with lots of great, teachable vocabulary. The last thing I read by him was Call of the Wild in third grade, but I think in the near future I'm going to try to read some more of his work.