Books of Influence by Dorothy Hearst - Guest Post - December 2014

Hearst, Dorothy. Promise of the Wolves. Simon and Shuster, 2009. 363p. $16.00. 978-1416569992.

What is the promise of the wolf? Never consort with humans. Never kill a human unprovoked. Never allow a mixed-blood wolf to live. At least that's what the wolves of the Wide Valley believe. Until a young wolf dares to break the rules--and forever alters the relationship between wolves and the humans who share their world.

Read below to find out what book inspired a young  Dorothy Hearst and how that influenced her series.

There were so many books that influenced The Wolf Chronicles that I could never list them all. 

Here are some of the books I read as a pup—between the ages of eleven and thirteen—that I know led me to the wolves.

The magic of what if:
Madeleine L’ Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time and Peter Dickinson’s Changes trilogy

I remember finishing A Wrinkle in Time, setting it down and thinking “I didn’t know you could do that.” I didn’t know that people were allowed to write about what was known, then—when arriving at what wasn’t known—make stuff up. I knew I wanted to do that. Peter Dickinson’s Changes trilogy is the story of England thrown back into the Middle Ages. I don’t want to give away the ending, but there’s a huge “what if” that drives the story. I had the same reaction at the end of it that I had to A Wrinkle in Time. You can do that? 

“What ifs” ended up at the center of The Wolf Chronicles. What if wolves domesticated us as much as we domesticated them? What if this story was told through the eyes of a young wolf who saves the life of a human child? And then there were all these wonderful gaps in our knowledge about wolf and human evolution that I could fill in with the story.

The animal’s perspective:
Richard Adams’ Watership Down 

When I set out to write about how the wolf became the dog from the wolf’s point of view, I wanted my wolves to be fully-drawn characters, and also realistic wolves. The first book I thought of was Watership Down, which a cousin had given me when I was eleven. I’d gobbled it up. When I started writing about Kaala’s adventures, I remembered how Adams had written his rabbits so that their needs and goals were as important as any human’s, and I modeled the wolves on that. I’d also been miffed that Adams’ female rabbits were so passive, so I got to set that right with Kaala.

Interspecies devotion
Anne McCaffrey’s dragons

I read the first four Pern books the summer I was thirteen. I was entranced by the relationship between the riders and their dragons and, even more so, fifteen-year-old Menolly’s love for her fire lizards. To this day I can feel how much I wanted a fire lizard. The dragons and fire lizards had very clear personalities, but they were definitely not human. The connection between human and nonhuman stayed with me.

A young female character in the center of a complex world 
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The cousin who gave me Watership Down gave also gave me A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I loved how Francie moved through a complex world with clear vision and a solid sense of herself. There was no breathlessness or silliness about Francie like there was in so many girl characters I’d read. I skipped through much of the adult perspectives and kept coming back to Francie and how she quietly, but steadily and firmly, found her way in the world.

About the Author
Before the wolves barged in the door, demanding that their story be told, Dorothy Hearst was a senior editor at Jossey-Bass, where she published books for nonprofit, public, and social change leaders. She currently lives, writes, and plays with dogs in Berkeley, California. Spirit of the Wolves, the third and final title in the Wolf Chronicles, will be released December 2. For more information, and to download free CCSS-aligned discussion questions for all three novels, visit her website: dorothyhearst.com.

Check out all the stops on the Wolf Chronicles blog tour!

Mon, Dec 1             Novel Novice                          http://novelnovice.com/
Tues, Dec 2            The Book Monsters                 http://thebookmonsters.com/
Wed, Dec 3             SLJ Teen                                 http://www.slj.com/tag/sljteen/
Thurs, Dec 4           I Am a Reader, Not a Writer   http://www.iamareader.com/
Fri, Dec 5                I Read Banned Books             http://www.jenbigheart.com/
Mon, Dec 8             Library Fanatic                       http://www.thelibraryfanatic.com/
Tues, Dec 9             YA Book Nerd                       http://yabooknerd.blogspot.com/
Wed, Dec 10           Read Now, Sleep Later          http://www.readnowsleeplater.com/
Thurs, Dec 11         The Brain Lair                        http://www.thebrainlair.com/
Fri, Dec 12              Unleashing Readers               http://www.unleashingreaders.com/
Sat, Dec 13             The Children's Book Review  http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/

Tune in tomorrow for a review and a chance to receive all 3 books in the series!