Gr. 6-8. Transported from California to the subarctic climate of the Yukon, Buck is transformed from a domestic pet dog into a creature that reacts instinctively.

Gr 7 Up-In this new audiobook edition, London's classic adventure story (originally pubished in 1903) presents a vivid exploration of a world that will not be too familiar to the average young reader. The plot revolves around Buck, a St. Bernard-Scotch Collie mix, who was the personal pet of Judge Miller in California's Santa Clara Valley. While strolling around the ranch as he was wont to do, Buck is taken by Manuel, the judge's gardener, and then sold to pay off some of Manuel's gambling debts. Crated and shipped off to Seattle, Buck's life is forever changed, as he finds himself in the hands of French-Canadians who take him, along with several other dogs, to the Klondike. There he is trained to be a sled dog, and Buck quickly learns the meaning of survival of the fittest. A fierce rivalry develops between Buck and the lead dog, Spitz, and, eventually, it is a fight to the death. Matthew Steward does an excellent job of bringing the bitterly cold and brutal world of Buck and the other sled dogs to life. Steward's enactment of the various human characters, their abuse and ruthless treatment of the dogs, will keep listeners captivated to the very end. Whether or not listeners are familiar with London's original, this audiobook will undoubtedly bring a better understanding of what it takes to live in a world that is wild and threatening, and through London's use of human emotions and traits that Buck reveals in this bitter, cold, wild adventure, it is one not easily forgotten.-Sheila Acosta, Cody Library, San Antonio, TX (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

London's classic tale of survival, about a gentle California dog's gradual transformation into a fierce arctic predator, calls for a robust, masculine reading. Because it is told from the dog's point of view, it also demands a narrator who can communicate the nuances of both animal and human emotion. Actor/narrator William Roberts's (The Fall of the House of Usher) performance amply meets those standards and ranks with the late Frank Muller's reading of this title for Recorded Books as among the best around. Highly recommended. [Audio clip available through www.naxosaudiobooks.com; an alternate abridged edition, read by Garrick Hagon, is also available from Naxos AudioBooks.-Ed.]-R. Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.