Julie of the Wolves is a relatively brief book. It is divided into three parts: a long section detailing Julie's life on the tundra and her association with the wolves; a short flashback concerning her life on Nunivak Island and her unsatisfactory relationship with Daniel; and a long section on her journey back to civilization.

The wolves are heavily anthropomorphized, and Julie's relationship with them is very sentimentalized. The death of Amaroq affects sympathetic young readers rather like the death of Bambi's mother. George's use of anthropomorphism does not trivialize the material; it makes it far more compelling. The impact of the novel's environmental lesson is very strong as a result of the emotional bonds built up between the reader and the animal characters.

The city-country dichotomy that underlies the story line draws to some extent on traditional pastoral motifs.

Pleasure, virtue, and love are discovered...