Wild Life written by Cynthia DeFelice is a story of a twelve year old boy named Erik who desperately wants to learn to hunt. His hunting plans are put on hold when his parents are deployed to Iraq. Erik is forced to move from New York to North Dakota to live with Grandparents he doesn't even remember. While left alone at his Grandparent's house he discovers a dog with porcupine quills in his snout. He calls his Grandma and together they call a vet to get the quills out. Erik wants to keep the dog but the vet says that they will probably find the owner because it is a good hunting dog. When his Grandfather comes home he does not want the dog in the house, or the dog to be there at all, so he orders it out to the barn. Erik goes out to the barn to sleep with the dog he has named Quill. He does not want to give him up. The next day Erik decides to run away with Quill and a gun that belonged to his dead uncle. Erik believes having Quill and the gun will be enough to survive out in the prairie, but he soon finds out that surviving out in the prairie is not as easy as it looks.