subject: Rita: A Red Wolf's Story Book Review by Todd Rutherford [print this page] Rita: A Red Wolf's Story Book Review by Todd Rutherford
Rita: A Red Wolf's Story is a book filled with moral lessons, an intriguing storyline with striking similarities between human and animal characters, and a resounding premise: one moment, one split-second decision can change the course of one's life.
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Marjorie Wall?'s Rita: A Red Wolf's Story is a book filled with moral lessons, an intriguing storyline with striking similarities between human and animal characters, and a resounding premise: one moment, one split-second decision can change the course of one's life. Although the main character is Rita, the pregnant red wolf, there are a number of memorable characters-from Sarah to Linnaeus the Luna moth-that make this story an enjoyable page-turner. On many fronts, Rita: A Red Wolf's Story is strikingly reminiscent of E.B. White's classic Charlotte's Web. In Rita, Linnaeus the moth serves as the wise man.
The entire character ensemble includes Janie, an animal-loving teenager; Sarah, a fourteen-year-old who finds herself at the zoo during torrential rain-in her quest to run away from home for a theater career in New York; Rita, the red wolf who is tired of the zoo and wants to see the city, and makes several attempts to escape; Silas, the aspiring storyteller at the zoo; Linnaeus the moth, who encourages Rita to act on her intuition; and Cerberus the Champion, who saves Rita from certain death.
In an interesting sort of way, all the characters' lives center around Rita. Cutting right into the substance of the story, Silas the storyteller begins a story about Rita and Janie, the animal-loving farm girl. When he details Rita's dream, all the students, including Sarah the runaway-who believes dreams don't come true-listen with vested interest. Though a wolf and not human, Rita wanted the same opportunities that humans had; she wanted the opportunity to explore, to dream, and to be free.
During Rita's encounter with Linnaeus (a very Charlotte's Web moment reminding me of Charlotte the spider and Wilbur the pig) she is shocked to discover that he knows of her dream to see the city. Speaking in riddles, Linnaeus states, "Keep your desire before you and you'll find your way."
Rita's adventures lead her to a chance encounter with Janie, where Rita gives birth to her pups. Once she has fully explored the city however, she desires to come back to Rolf, her mate, and the zoo, which she realizes is her home. Will she succeed in finding her way back? Be sure to read Rita: A Red Wolf's Story and learn how this amazing tale unfolds.
