Earlier this year I reviewed  Doniga Markegard’s memoir, Wolf Girl: Finding Myself In the Wild, for Independent Book Review. Earth Day seems a good time to introduce you to the Wolf Girl if you missed my initial review. The author’s life is shaped by her environment, a great reminder for fiction writers and readers of the importance of ensuring our characters grow organically out of their setting.

Wild Wolf Girl

With the Wolf Girl as our wilderness guide, we can rediscover humankind’s place in the wild, natural order.

In her memoir, Wolf Girl: Finding Myself In the Wild, Doniga Markegard tracks the influences that lead her to construct a purposeful life in harmony with the natural world. “Memoir” is too limited a word for this combination of autobiography, environmental science textbook, and self-help guide. 

Wolf Girl is a reminiscence of the author’s, often traumatic, teen years through young adulthood. The voice is conversational, even meandering, as if the reader and Markegard are gathered around the evening campfire for a cozy chat. Each chapter is a self-contained personal essay; they describe challenges the author faced, what she learned from each adversity, and how she grew as a student of nature. 

A Wild Child

An independent teen, she ran away from her rural western USA home several times, seeking freedom and identity. An invitation at age fifteen to attend an outdoors-oriented high school (Wilderness Awareness School) undoubtedly rescued this troubled young person. The author learned to track animals and integrate herself into the wild, but, more importantly, internalized ways to look at the environment as a sacred place and to find her own place in it. She discovered that freedom lay in a close connection to the natural world. 

An early school assignment was to choose one location and observe it daily to develop awareness and sharpen the senses. “If a bird called . . I wrote that down. If a flower came into bloom, I drew it out. The hawks flying overhead, the deer bounding away, the first buds of spring, the racoon tracks along the bank all made their way onto my map.” 

Although that world was only a few steps from the author’s own door, she soon traveled widely to seek out new opportunities to observe nature. As a young woman working in outdoors education and tracking, the author began to learn about sustainable agricultural and ranching techniques. Now married and a mother, Markegard dedicates this memoir to each young person on their own trail. 

Wolf Girl Guides Us Through the Wild

Interwoven with her personal story are teachings; from the seven sacred Lakota principles of Wo-ope Sa-Kowin to the details of permaculture, these were pivotal lessons for Markegard. Each chapter also includes “homework,” active, hands-on ways the reader can experience nature. 

I was most impressed by the author’s clear explanations of ecological science principles such as holistic land management. The natural balance of the American prairie, from the very dirt to the apex predator, was destroyed by the American settlers’ farming practices, the destruction of the buffalo, and the displacement of many indigenous tribes of the plains. Those changes yield the famous “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s. But proper land and cattle management practices such as those Markegard teaches can reverse the damage to the ecosystem. 

I also enjoyed the suggestions for finding our own place in nature, even if we live in a city apartment building. 

Essay Collection or Memoir?

This book was more successful for me as a series of nature essays than as a memoir. Markegard’s deep love of the natural world shines through every description of the wild, but emotional processing of her personal life and insight into experiences with people are cursory. The wild nourishes and heals her, and she can’t wait to get back on the trail. For example, while tracking a significant animal, “that howl took hold of me and a kinship emerged between the wolf and me. Far from my home, I was able to let self-doubt, distractions, and old patterns drift off with the wind.”

Recommendation: Go Wild

The preface implies the book is directed at teenagers, but the style and tone of the memoir seems more suitable for an older reader.

I’d recommend Wolf Girl for adults interested in wildlife, native plants, environmentalist action, and agricultural and animal husbandry practices. By sharing her story, Doniga Markegard becomes a guide for all who needs to find themselves in the wild. Her call to action is vital to the planet’s health as well as all its inhabitants.

And Now a Word From Our Sponsor

Like the blog? Subscribe (form at the bottom of my website) to never miss an issue. Want more? Subscribe to the quinterly newsletter for exclusive content. And, of course, I’m selling books. St. Louis Writers Guild recently published Love Letters to St. Louis. This adorable letter-shaped volume of short stories, poems, essays, and illustrations included my first science fiction story, “Welcome to Earthport Prime: A Self-Guided Tour.” Profits benefit the guild’s young writers’ program. 

Check out all my stories at Amazon.com. Order my new novella, Wolfhearted, here. If you’ve enjoyed one of my books, tell the world! Consider leaving a short review at Amazon or Goodreads. The direct link to review Wolfhearted on Amazon is here, The Resurrectionist, here and Water of Life, here. Thanks in advance. Even five reviews will put the book in a more prominent position on Amazon.