It's the story of a family who has been torn apart. Luke, the dad, is devoted to studying wolves - in fact, he spends two years away from his wife and children to try to become a member of a pack of wolves in Canada. Edward, the oldest son, left home when he was 18 - the day after 'coming out' and telling his dad he was gay. Cara, the daughter, is now 17 and has been living with her father. She hates her brother because her parents divorced - and she blames him. Georgia, the mother, now has a loving husband and twins, but she misses her son who now lives in Thailand.
Three months before Cara's 18th birthday, she and her father, Luke, are in a car wreck. Cara has to undergo some surgery, but her father is now in a vegetative state. When Georgia calls her son to tell him the news, he catches the first plane home and enters the world of the family he left behind six years before. Now, Edward thinks they need to let their father die while Cara is fighting for his life... and a miracle.
The story is incredibly moving and I cried many times. Each chapter is told from the voice of one of the main characters - including a few I didn't mention here. Besides the story of the family's struggle over whether or not to let Luke die, you also read the story of Luke's time with the wolves in the wild - and learn a lot about wolf behavior!
I haven't listened to very many books on tape as I usually don't care for the way they're read. But, I watched this 4 minute video of this book being recorded and think it is wonderful! And, it looks like they use a different reader for each character. (As I mentioned, each chapter is from the point of view of a different character.)
Luke Warren, the man who lived with wolves, is actually based on a real person - Shaun Ellis. You can learn more about him at The Wolf Centre site.
And, though this is a poor photo, this a picture from my night camera at our ranch in Oklahoma... of a pack of wolves! There were 3 in the photo before this, but it was even poorer than the other. Unfortunately, the camera was focusing on the fence - not the wolves. My in-laws live about 30 miles from our ranch and sometimes hear the wolves howling. I hope to get a better photo of 'our' wolves! (You can see an eye of one wolf to the right of the top of the middle pole and another eye of another wolf right above the middle pole.)
And, though this is a poor photo, this a picture from my night camera at our ranch in Oklahoma... of a pack of wolves! There were 3 in the photo before this, but it was even poorer than the other. Unfortunately, the camera was focusing on the fence - not the wolves. My in-laws live about 30 miles from our ranch and sometimes hear the wolves howling. I hope to get a better photo of 'our' wolves! (You can see an eye of one wolf to the right of the top of the middle pole and another eye of another wolf right above the middle pole.)
