Farewell to OR 7

It’s with sorrow and also great pride that I bid farewell to a wild wolf who captured the hearts of wildlife watchers everywhere with his strength and determination, and inspired me to write A WOLF CALLED WANDER. When OR 7 was a pup in the Imnaha Pack in northeastern Oregon, wolves were only recently returned to my home state, and we had much to learn about wild wolves and many questions about how they would survive. When OR 7 dispersed from his pack in search of a mate he fired the imagination of the world with his persistence–eventually finding a wolf in southwestern Oregon where none had been seen in more than 80 years.

This is OR 7 captured on a trail camera in 2014.

He and his mate founded the Rogue pack. (Sorry to disappoint Star Wars fans, it was named for the Rogue River watershed where they live.) The pair went on to have pups year after year. Those pups are founding members of California’s first wild wolves in more than a century, the Lassen and Shasta packs. OR 7 has not worn a collar in several years and was last seen on a trail camera in the fall of 2019. His mate has been seen on trail cameras this spring but not OR 7 so he is missing and presumed dead at this point. He was 11 years old, more than twice the average life span for a wild wolf. His Rogue pack continues to thrive and his pups and grand-pups will raise their voices in Oregon’s forests for generations to come.

There is plenty to celebrate about the progress wolves have made in OR 7’s lifetime. Wolves have slowly but steadily increased over the last decade. There are now 22 known packs in Oregon and the known population of wolves has increased 15% in the last year. In response the Department of Fish and Wildlife has hired more wolf biologists and concentrated grant money and public education toward the goal of managing livestock to co-exist with wolves. Those efforts are paying off as there are 43% fewer losses of livestock in 2019. Here is a link to a wolf encounter with an ODFW intern in the summer of 2019. It has good information about meeting wolves in the wild. I hope our future contains many more beautiful and peaceful wolf encounters like this one.

Farewell OR 7, you will live in our hearts and in our stories always. art by Mónica Armiño from A Wolf Called Wander

Sources: https://dfw.state.or.us/wolves/docs/oregon_wolf_program/2019_Annual_Wolf_Report_FINAL.pdf, and https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-wolf-population-up-but-famous-or-7-may-have-died/

A Whale of the Wild ARCs

Advanced Review copies are finally here for A Whale of the Wild. Just look at that gorgeous cover art by Lindsay Moore. The book will be on sale in September. I’m going to be sending a dozen of these to teachers and librarians use the contact form on my website. Tell me the name of your school or library and the address where I can send it.

Booksellers the ARC is available on Netgalley and from your HarperCollins sales rep. I am in the process of signing first editions and YES! I do want to come to your bookstore. It it scheduled for September of this year. Let’s talk about making some version of a bookstore visit possible.

Book Club Blog Posts are coming!

So many of my readers are home from school this spring because of the pandemic. I thought it would be fun to do a little Book Club on my blog. Starting April 1st, I’ll be creating three posts for families to use while reading my book. They will have science connections, some links for learning more and some fun things to try at home. No worksheets. Just a fun look at the science behind the story. First up! A Wolf Called Wander.

book cover A Wolf Called Wander — A Wolf Called Wander has been nominated for the Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children’s Literature

I am waiting to create my first Book Club Posts because I need to finish up working on a book coming out in the fall. It’s a companion book to A Wolf Called Wander but the viewpoint character in this story is as big as a school bus! I’m so excited! Meanwhile I strongly encourage your whole family to take a cue from wolves in the wild and indulge in an after dinner howl from time to time. It’s good for the pack!

NY Children’s History Book Prize

Just when you thought book award season was over, I’ve just learned that LAST OF THE NAME has been nominated for the Children’s History Book Prize, by the NY Historical Society. I’m delighted to be recognized along side three other beautiful works of non-fiction. And more than that I’m grateful that organizations like the NYHS are drawing attention to historical fiction which can be a challenge to publish.

New Book News!

I’m thrilled to announce that I have a companion book to A Wolf Called Wander coming out next year. A Whale of the Wild will be a fall title with Greenwillow. The illustrator will be Lindsay Moore who wrote and illustrated the magnificent picture book The Sea Bear. Here we are researching by kayak in the Salish Sea. You can read all about the deal in this Publisher’s Weekly interview.

I am very grateful to the team at Andersen Press who had such vision for my book, and to our brilliant illustrator Mónica Armiño and to Greenwillow who have made a beautiful home for my stories. And most of all I’m grateful to my Portland writing community, my writing partners Amy Baskin, Nora Ericson, Michael Gettle-Gilmartin, Cheryl Coupé, Barb Liles and Cliff Lehman. And most of all thank you to my agent Fiona Kenshole for her acumen, determination, enthusiasm and kindness.

Rosanne Parry and Lindsay Moore in a sea kayak.