Title: Wolf Brother: (Paver)
Level: Y
Quick summary: This is a story about a young boy and his journey as he becomes a man. His father dies and
he is left to fulfill an old prophecy and save the Forest. Evil has taken over the forest and it is up to him and
his wolf cub to destroy it.
Possible Reading Assignments: (8 days)
1: ch. 1-4 2: ch. 5-8 3: ch. 9-12 4: ch. 13-16 5: ch. 17-20 6: ch. 21-24
Summary
Ch. 1
Pgs. 1-12
Ch. 2
Pgs. 13-20
Ch. 3
Pgs. 21-29
Torak wakes up hurt and is very worried about
something coming back. The book then returns
to yesterday when Torak and his father, Fa, are
attacked by a bear. Torak’s father tells him that
this bear is stronger than any other bear
because it is possessed by a demon that has
made it evil. It only lives to kill and grows
stronger every time it does. The father has
been badly slashed on the side and Torak has
bruised ribs and a hurt forearm from the attack.
The two exchange last words. Fa makes Torak
promise to head north and find the mt. of the
World Spirit. Torak is unsure he can accomplish
this but promises he will try. He is also warned
to stay away from men, even those of his own
Wolf Clan. The father asks his son to prepare
him for the Death Journey. Torak resists but
eventually prepares the body with three death
marks; circles to help the three souls (name, clan,
and world) stay together after death. Torak
goes to get water for his father; the bear comes
back and attacks the shelter, where his father is
again. His father warns Torak to run.
Torak is running North and afraid to stop. He
feels truly alone for the first time in his life.
Torak remembers his first and only clan meeting
that he attended, the kids made fun of his
father. He sees a herd of horses that was killed
by the bear. Torak can tell that the horses were
not killed because the bear was hungry.
Continues to run and finds 2 drowned wolves, and
three dead cubs. A fourth cub is alive nearby.
As the cub yowls, Torak has the urge to do so as
well. He has a vision of being taken care of by
wolves. He is starving and starts toward the cub
with his knife.
The chapter starts out in the wolf cub’s point of
view. He doesn’t understand why his family is
ignoring him (dead). The wolf cub smells
something that smells a little like wolf, but has
many other smells as well. Infer that it is Torak.
Figures out that the “strange wolf” is hunting
7: ch. 25-28
Difficult Vocabulary
Pg. 1: Jolt, looming,
spruce bough
shelter
Pg. 2: stalks,
bracken, saplings,
convulsed
Pg. 4: Jerkin, sinew
Pg. 7: bewildered
Pg. 8: ochre
Pg. 11: yew,
impenetrable
8: ch. 29-32
Purpose for
reading/Comp. Strategy
Introduce some of the
vocabulary that students
will be unfamiliar with.
Since this book is about
Indians they use a lot of
unknown words.
Read the first page
together and focus on
the questioning strategy.
When I read, I had so
many questions about
what was happening and
the character.
Discuss the visual and
descriptive language that
the author uses.
Great lead!!
Pg. 13: Alder
thickets, savagely,
pignuts
Personification: on Page
13 it says, “The forest
was full of eyes.”
Pg. 16: Taunted,
caches
Discuss why Torak was
told to stay away from
man.
Pg. 17: ravenous
Pg. 19: sodden
Pg. 22: muzzle
Pg. 24: baring,
undeterred
Pg. 26: inquisitive
Character: What do we
know about Torak and his
life before now?
Point of view: writing
strategy
Pg. 23 paragraph 4 and
Pg. 25 paragraph 1,
descriptions of Torak
from the cubs point of
him. Torak doesn’t kill the cub, but has to search
to find some food and builds a shelter. He
throws up and inspects his wound on his forearm.
It is hot and red. Fever.
Pg. 28: pignuts
Torak attends to his wound and lays down for the
night. He thinks about how he has broken all the
rules of traveling in the forest on the first night.
(rules on pg 33) He doesn’t deserve his clan
tattoos, fine line of dots that follow his cheek
bones. He has a nightmare about the bear and
wakes up to find he can really hear the bear, but
it is far away. Hears a warning in his mind from
Fa that the cub will warn him if the bear is near.
A dog barks in the background, is there man in
this part of the forest?
Remembers facts about World Spirit: send the
rain/snow/prey, has never been seen, in the
summer is a man with antlers, winter a woman
with red willow branches for hair. Must get
there before Great Bull Auroch, most powerful
demon in Otherworld fully escapes, happens in
the night sky in autum—when all demons are most
powerful. Wonders is the cub is the guide that
his father said would find him.
Pg. 31: tinder pouch,
flint, famished,
infuriating
Ch. 6
Pgs. 45-56
Cub point of view, calls Torak, Tall Tailless.
Learn that the cub can sense which way they
should be going. Torak kills a buck, uses
complete carcass for food and materials. Torak
thinks the forest should have more animals at
this time of year. He makes a whistle, only the
cub can hear the sound. He is grabbed and
yanked by an unknown hand.
Pg. 48: scarcer
Pg. 52: subtle,
merest, rite
Pg. 53: relented
Pg. 55: dismay
Ch. 7
Pgs. 57-64
His captors are a young girl, Renn, older boy,
Hord, and man, Oslak. They accused him of being
a thief because he stole their buck. It is theirs
because it was in their part of the Forest. This
was decided at the last clan meeting. He are
taking Torak and Wolf back to Windriver, their
autumn camp to see Fin-Kedinn the leader.
There are many people at the camp, all busy
working. Torak sees an old lady of the Clan of
Mage—they can heal the sick, predict weather,
and dream of where prey is. Hord takes Torak to
Fin-Kedinn. Fin knows his father, Torak could see
the recognition in his face when he told him who
his father way. Fin says to divide Torak’s things
Pg. 58:
surreptitiously
Pg. 60: hackles
Pg. 62: arrogant
Pg. 63: lamenting
Ch.4
Pgs. 31-35
Ch. 5
Pgs. 36-44
Ch. 8
Pgs. 65-70
Pg. 36: ragingly
Pg. 39: havoc
Pg. 41: plaintive
Pg. 65: bewildered
Pg. 66: sheathed
Pg. 67: resemblance,
wield
view, have to infer that it
is him.
Why did Torak decide
not to kill and eat the
cub? What do we infer
about his character?
Predictions:
There is many different
subjects that the
students can make
predictions about,
Torak and the cub
Does the dog barking
mean there are men?
What is the bear up to?
What will happen with
Torak’s wound and fever?
-Character analysis:
What does the way Torak
treats the cub tell us
about his personality.
Find in text examples
-Discuss that there are
12 moons a year. Long
ago each moon had a
different name. It was a
way to tell time, similar
to our months
Voice: When the author
switches to the cub’s
point of view the voice in
his writing changes
Author’s intent: Why
does the author write in
the cub’s point of view?
Inference: Who is Tall
Tailless and how do you
know?
Prediction: What will the
leader of the clan do?
What are these people
like? Will Torak escape?
Visualization: Students
can discuss or draw how
they pictured this clan’s
camp. It is very
descriptive to what it
looks like.
Ch. 9
Pgs. 71-84
among everyone, take him downstream and kill
him.
Torak remembers an old law called trial by
combat, because they are unsure if he is guilty or
not he can fight to prove his innocence. He
doesn’t know how to fight their way, and would be
fighting Hord. Torak got Hord to the ground by
covering his face with boiling broth. Had the
urge to kill but Fin-Kedinn ended the fight. FinKedinn says Torak can go but Renn disagrees and
secretly talks to Fin. A Shadow attacks the
Pg. 68:impenetrable,
wry
Pg. 72: bedraggled,
slavering
Pg. 74: prodded
Pg. 76:incompetence
Forest. None can stand against it. Then comes
the Listener. He fights with air, and speaks with
silence. The Listener gives his heart’s blood to
the Mountain. And the Shadow is crushed. The
Ch.10
Pgs. 85-94
Ch. 11
Pgs. 95-102
Ch. 12
Pgs.103-109
Ch. 13
Pgs.110-122
Ch. 14
Pgs.123-134
clan thinks Torak might be the listener.
There is a clan meet to decide what to do with
Torak. Hord tells Torak he saw when the bear
was caught and saw it “made”. Hord had been
with the Red-Deer clan for nine moons (months)
to learn Magecraft. A wanderer from the Willow
clan camped with them, conjured up a demon
spirit and put it inside the bear. Renn was talking
to Torak and she noticed that Wolf could
understand him. She is determined now that he
is the listener. She picks up Wolf and runs
toward the clan meet.
Fin-Kedinn and Saeunn, an old women, come up to
Torak. The old woman tells Torak of his past
(middle of page 97). Torak’s father couldn’t feed
him so he lived for a while with wolves, this is
why he can speak wolf talk. At the last clan meet
Fa attended he found Saeunn and told her of
Torak. His father was the Wolf Clan Mage and
the wanderer was his enemy. The bear was
created to kill Fa. Torak escaped and left Wolf.
Torak is running through the forest with the
Raven Clan close behind. Heads north but then
doublebacks towards camp to get Wolf. Stops at
the Raven-Clans bone ground; if he crosses he
will anger their ancestors. Something grabs him
and drags him down into darkness.
Renn hid him from the others. She brought Wolf
with her, also Torak’s pack and boots. She holds
an arrow up to him and says that she is going to
make him go to the World Spirit. She is not
helping him. Fight about which way to go, but
decide to follow Wolf. Wolf caught a bad sent,
and raced back to tell Torak.
They find evidence that the bear has been where
they are. The bear is growing in size. Renn tells
Torak more about the prophecy. He will have to
At what time during the
fight did Torak take the
lead?
Connections: The clan
talks about a prophecy.
What do you know about
prophecies from other
books, how do they
usually turn out?
Pg. 85: reluctant
Pg. 88: furtive
Predictions: Is Torak
the Listener?
Will he fulfill the
prophecy?
Is he going to get away?
If so how and where will
he go? If not, will the
Raven Clan help him on
his quest?
Pg. 100: taut
Pg. 101: evade
Character: Why would
Torak’s father keep so
much from him? Do you
agree or disagree with
his decision, why?
Pg. 108: venture
Connections: The
different clans have
many traditions. What
are some of your family
traditions?
Pg. 111: squelch
Pg. 112: perplexed
Pg. 114: rankled
Pg. 120: ford
Inference: When the
author starts writing
again in Wolf’s point of
view we have to use clues
from the book and our
background knowledge to
infer what wolf it talking
about.
Questioning: What kinds
of questions do the
students have while they
Pg. 129: murmur
Ch. 15
Pgs.135-139
Ch. 16
Pgs.140-146
Ch. 17
Pgs.147-155
Ch. 18
Pgs.156-169
Ch. 19
Pgs.170-179
Ch. 20
Pgs.180-187
prove to the World Spirit that he is worthy of
helping by bringing the three strongest pieces of
the Nanuak-a great river. Have to cross
Wideriver at the Thunder Falls. As they are
crossing Torak looses his balance and falls in.
Torak is being carried towards the waterfall.
“Hidden People” that live in the river beg his soul
to escape the body. Sees two white eyes staring
from the bottom of the river of him, one of the
three things he needs to bring to the World
Spirit. He reaches the surface, his eyes are
opened but he can’t see.
Wolf and Renn find Torak and pull him away from
the water. Wolf senses that whatever is in
Torak’s hand is very powerful. He cut his
forehead but is not blind. He shows Renn the
Nanuak that he retrieved. They hope that noone
else can hear or smell it.
Torak awakes at dawn very sore, but determined
to get out of the cave. Renn’s father died when
she was seven, Fin has taken care of her ever
sense. Renn has the best shooting aim in her
clan. They are running out of time before the
Great Bull Auroch is free. Wolf sensed
something, he couldn’t tell what is was or what is
was thinking, but knew it would be back.
Renn and Torak notice that they don’t see any
reindeer, the clans count on these animals for
food, clothes, and bedding. During the nights he
smells a carrion stink and has the feeling of being
watched. They can barely see because of the
fog. They are met by the Walker who is very
angry and forces them up a steep hill. A demon is
made by the clan-soul leaving. Walker has a
stone claw, that is very old. If they find where
he got it they will find an old stone tooth, the
second piece of the Nanuak.
Torak and Renn are on the journey to find the
stone creature. At the mouth of the cave
someone carved a hand to warn others of the evil
inside. In the middle of the cave is a door to the
Otherworld. There were eyes all over the walls
watching him. Renn screams after him in the
cave, “The bear!”
Renn saw the bear, and he caught her scent. For
the first time she trusted Wolf, and decided to
go inside the cave. She went through a small slit;
maybe the bear would be too big to get passed.
The bear roars then all goes silent. The bear
can’t get through but is trying to dig them out.
The Watchers of the cave are swarming Torak;
the roar made the Watchers leave. He makes his
are reading? Have some
already been answered?
Do some questions need
to be discussed?
Pg. 136: spume
Pg. 137: languid
What words did the
author use to describe
death? How would you
describe it?
Pg. 143: chink
Prediction: What do you
think the two other items
are that Torak must get
before finding the World
Spirit?
Pg. 153: swathe
What are some signs that
show when the bear is
near or far?
What was it that Wolf
saw during the night?
Pg. 159: dejected
Pg. 160: plait
Pg 164: rancid
Pg 166: elemental—
described on page
Pg. 167: vain
Connections: While they
walk in the fog Torak
imagines things that
aren’t there. Has that
ever happened to you?
Pg. 173: acrid
Pg. 175: gullet
Pg. 178: fetid
Personification: page
172—rocks, listening,
trees warning them
There is great
description about the
inside of the cave. Have
students draw how they
pictured it.
Prediction:
What will happen to
Wolf/Renn/Torak.?
Where is Renn’s tribe,
are they still hunting
them?
Pg. 182:
reverberated
Pg. 184: lethal
Ch. 21
Pgs.188-197
Ch. 22
Pgs.198-206
Ch. 23
Pgs.207-214
Ch. 24
Pgs.215-221
Ch. 25
Pgs.222228
Ch. 26
Pgs.229237
Ch. 27
Pgs.238244
way to the front to see Renn standing with
courage taking aim at the bear. The bear
reaches out for her as Wolf knocks her down,
saving her life. Wolf takes off out of the cave
and the bear follows.
One moment the bear was after Renn, and the
next after Wolf. Wolf had the pack with the
Nanuak in it. The bear can feel its power. As
Wolf runs he no longer feels like a cub, he is a
real wolf. He is in the range of a stranger pack
and must be careful. Torak and Renn decide to
build camp and wait till morning to find Wolf.
Wolf found a pack of reindeer that masked his
scent. The bear could no longer hunt him; Wolf
would head back to Torak.
Renn made a mixture to put over the new Nanuak,
to hide it. They begin to track Wolf, knowing
they are also tracking the bear. They found
Wolf tired and wet, but alive with the pouch.
Wolf and Torak fell they should travel up the
snow covered side of the mountain, Renn is afraid
of the “ice river”. It’s how her father died.
Pg. 189: retort
Pg. 192: suppleness
Pg. 193: turmoil
Characters:
How has Torak’s and
Renn’s relationship
changed from the first
time they met?
Does she still want to kill
him?
Pg. 200: quelling
Pg. 203: treacherous
At the end of the
chapter Renn talks about
how her father was an
experienced hunter and
still died in the ice river.
She asks, “what kind of
hope/chance do you think
we have?” Discuss
The rested for a day and are now heading north,
traveling under the ice cliffs. Wolf gave an
urgent grunt, enough time for them to take cover
while the snow avalanched. They moved on. The
Nanuak is draining Renn, Torak carries it for
awhile. The snow broke and Torak fell.
Torak fell down an ice hole but landed on a tiny
ledge. He could hear the rush of the ice melt and
knew he was in the ice river. Torak tied antlers
to his wrists to use as claws to climb up. They
look to the east and see a snow storm coming.
Pg. 207: crag
Pg. 208: obliterate
They are stuck in the snowstorm and Renn
becomes lost. Torak finds an ice cave; there is a
dead man inside. The man was holding the last
piece of the Nanuak. Torak has a decision to
make: go out and look for Renn and possibly die,
taking the pieces of Nanuak to the grave with
him; or stay in the cave, safe with the Nanuak
that could save the forest.
Renn digs a small ice cave and goes in. She lost
one of her mittens and is afraid that her hand
has frostbite. Torak and Wolf find Renn and
enlarge the cave for the three of them.
Wolf howled to another wolf pack that had found
a herd of reindeer. Torak wondered why Wolf
would talk to a strange pack. A little after noon
they had found the forest again. They find an
auroch killed by the bear. The kill is at least a
day old. Out of the trees come white-clad
Pg. 225: parody
Pg. 215: fathomless
Pg. 217: chasm
Pg. 221: gait
Pg. 230: frostbite
Pg. 237: menance
Pg. 240: troughs
Pg. 243: auroch
Writing: What kind of
research do you think the
author had to do to write
this book? Could some of
her facts be true and
some false?
What thoughts do you
think are going through
Torak’s mind as he makes
his decision? What
should he do and why?
Discuss what other
dangers the students
think Torak, Renn, and
Wolf will have to face.
Character analysis:
What is the relationship
between Hord and Renn?
What kind of person is
Hord and how do we
know? What can we
Ch. 28
Pgs.245255
Ch. 29
Pgs.256269
Ch. 30
Pgs.270280
Ch. 31
Pgs.281-286
Ch. 32
Pgs.287293
people. Renn and Torak are encircled by the
people holding arrows. Hord, “I’ve got you at
last.”
Hord ties up Torak and starts dragging him to
camp; Renn is protesting, trying to convince them
to stop. The clan thought Renn was dead; Fin
hadn’t talked for three days after. Hord said he
didn’t grieve and wished she was dead. The bear
attacked their clan, two died, Fin is wounded.
Renn and Torak convinced Fin that Torak, not
Hord, must be the one to complete the journey.
The clan is helping Torak get ready for the
journey by making him new clothes, mending his
boots, providing food, and a good nights rest.
Torak ate dinner, night meal, with Fin. Torak
meets Kruoslik who is part of the Mountain Hare
Clan for advice about how to survive in the
mountains. Fin tells Torak about the Soul-Eaters,
seven Mages from different clans (page 164).
The Wanderer who made the bear was a SoulEater. The Soul-Eaters hate Torak’s father
which is why they killed him and will com after
Torak as soon as they find out about him.
The Raven clan helps Torak prepare and watches
him leave. Krukoslik told Torak a few things to
follow but was unable to give great detail. Torak
finds fresh bear tracks, and is now more alert as
he travels. He finds the Mountain and can feel its
anger. For a moment Torak feels unable to go;
Wolf coaxes him on and they start up the
mountain.
Torak and Wolf begin to climb the Mountain; he
can feel the Spirit warning him to stop. Sees the
bear, but Torak is too high for the bear to catch
his scent. The bear turns to walk away. Torak
opened the pouch that held the Nanuak to lure
the bear back. The bear turned and chased after
him. Torak howled and ask the World Spirit for
help. He got no reply, turned around and saw
Hord’s axe coming at him.
Hord wants to Nanuak, he feels guilty because he
trapped the bear for the crippled wanderer, but
didn’t know what he was going to do with it. Wolf
helps protect Torak; he is no longer a cub. Torak
and Hord fight as the bear becomes closer.
Torak finally understands the prophecy The
Listener will give his heart’s blood to the
Mountain. Wolf is his heart—he tells Wolf to run
with the Nanuak up the mountain. The World
Spirit answered his plea by sending an avalanche,
taking down Hord and the bear. Hord and the
bear are dead, but Torak worries about Wolf. He
predict he will do to Renn
and Torak?
Pg. 247: poultice
Pg. 259: unnerving
Pg. 261: quelled
Pg. 274: deftly
Pg. 277: toiled
Pg. 278:
impenetrable
Pg. 282: basalt
Pg. 284: exultation
Pg. 288: perilously
Pg. 290:obliterating
Discuss: Wolf sensed
that the clan was afraid
of Torak. Why would
this be?
Connections: Has there
been a time in your life
when you had to give up
something very important
for someone else?
Prediction: At the end of
the chapter Torak is
thinking about how the
Listener Fights with Air
and an idea comes to his
mind. What could it be?
Questioning: Have many
of your questions from
the beginning of the book
been answered?
(probably ones about his
Fa and past life)
What new questions do
you have?
Comparison: How does
wolf act and feel as he
starts up the Mountain?
How is this different
from Torak?
Discuss the different
characters…How would
the story have been
different without them?
What do you think will
happen in the sequel of
the story?
Discuss the questions
that the students still
have about the story.
Why would the author
leave the story without
hears him howling, with other wolves. Wolf his
completely answering
telling him farewell. Torak turns to head back to
everything?
the Ravens
Other Activities/Ideas: This book is probably out of most of the students’ schema. It might be helpful to go over
some of the vocabulary and traditions before beginning the book. This will give the students something to connect to
as they read and help them not be so lost in the very beginning.