A Wolf Called Wander

Swift, the young wandering wolf, is a predator, so there are many scenes involving hunting and eating prey; descriptions are not gratuitously gory or scary, but don't soft-pedal the seriousness, either. Some of Swift's family members are killed by humans and other wolves, others disappear and their fates remain unknown. Swift is often alone, endangered, frightened.

Occasional references to marking your territory with pee and poop, by various species.

Parents need to know that A Wolf Called Wander is a tale "narrated" by real-life, famed far-roaming wolf OR-7 (called Swift here), collared with a radio transmitter by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in 2011 to track his movements. The story traces Swift's life from puppyhood with his family to his loss of them all in an attack by another pack, and the migrations that took him over hundreds of miles and several interstates in Oregon and California before he settled down and made a family of his own. (As of the book's writing, he and his mate are alive and well in Oregon.) Author Rosanne Parry packs a lot of information about wolves into the story, as well as an appendix with many facts and resources. She also spins a vivid, exciting, relatable narrative of an overwhelmed orphan who suddenly has to fend for himself as enemies take over his family's home, and the challenges and decisions he faces as he tries to stay alive and true to his parents' teaching -- and maybe even find other wolves. The lead character is a predator who lives by hunting, so there's a lot of vivid but non-gratuitous detail about hunting and eating prey. Family members are killed by people and by other wolves, and assorted animals give birth, though the young wolf-narrator is amazed when a baby horse is born right out in the open instead of in a den, as the wolves would do.