"When the Wolf Calls" looks at life in the Arctic

Decades ago, living outside Fairbanks and then "up in the mountains behind Tok," Avril Johannes developed a love of nature and a deep passion for one particular animal -- the wolf.

Now, Johannes is taking that passion and putting it on paper. The author of the children's book Squeaks recently released her first full-length novel, When the Wolf Calls.

"The book will appeal to anybody who is interested in life in the Arctic," Johannes said. "It is not a 'wolf story.' It's about life in the Arctic now, and as it used to be. It covers everything, and through it all, the white wolf is there."

The book has been five years in the making, Johannes said, but she has always been fascinated by wolves.

Her family tracked a pack of wolves while they lived in Fairbanks, and watching them raise their pups was always a highlight for the family, she said.

"We raised our family in the wilderness, and there were endless opportunities out there," Johannes said. "I love everything about nature, and that's all there is to that."

She draws on her personal background throughout the book. It is a fictional account of a white wolf that has been orphaned in the Arctic. Meanwhile, Ben and Angela are finishing their college careers. While Angela wants to remain in the Arctic, Ben wants to return to their native New York. They decide to go north for a summer.

The book portrays their "separate yet interwoven lives," Johannes said. Throughout the book, the lives of people in the Arctic are examined in detail, and you can tell Johannes has spent plenty of time researching the book.

"I talked with a number of Eskimo families, and drew on my own personal experiences," Johannes said. "It is an incredible life."

When the Wolf Calls sat with a publisher for a year, and Johannes said she decided to self-publish the book because "when you are young, a year doesn't mean much. But I needed to get it on the road."

Johannes said the book is already being sold in bookstores, and she will be at the Colony High School bazaar on Nov. 30, selling autographed copies of the book.

She is already working on a couple of different projects.

She is working on another children's book about Ravens, and she is working on another book about her family's rehabilitation of animals.

"I've got a couple of different projects, and they all have different mindsets," Johannes said.