Wolf Time: A Novel

In 2018, wildlife biologist Sage McAllister opens the door to her small log cabin and finds two wild wolves, an uncommon sight in the Yosemite National Park region, where gray wolves were eradicated in 1924. Sage is frightened at first, but she has spent her whole life talking to animals and nature. The wolves, Issa and Tish, begin speaking to her telepathically. They are siblings and the only ones left of their pack. They have come to ask Sage to help them tell their story. They relay their memories to Sage through Wolf Time, a dreamlike state where Sage is able to move back in time and relive memories as if they were her own. Sage experiences their life as rollicking and playful puppies, their losses as their large family is reduced in numbers due to hunters, and their long journey to escape certain death by traps, snares, or the hunter’s gun.

The chapters about Sage, Issa, and Tish alternate with a story set in 2010 about siblings Blue and Sunny who adopt an abandoned wolf pup. In their region, wolves are hunted by Wildlife Services and ranchers, including their Uncle Marshal. Blue and Sunny name the pup Tierra and convince their uncle to allow them to keep her. The children successfully nurse Tierra back to health, but they soon learn that they are moving to Wyoming and cannot bring Tierra with them. They eventually come together with Sage in a surprising connection and an exciting adventure to save the wolves.

Wolf Time by Barbara J. Moritsch weaves fact and fantasy to tell a story about the plight of wolves in the United States. Readers experience the wolves’ tragic losses and learn about the unfair propaganda put out by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services in order to lift the federal endangered species act protections and remove wolves from the endangered species list. But Moritsch gives readers hope with this tale about nature’s strength and resilience as well as the beauty of human kindness.