The Call of the Wild

Why it’s on the list: Jack London’s short, hard novel of a ranch dog stolen and sold into the Klondike gold rush — about what a creature reverts to when civilization stops paying.

Where I heard about it

• Founders Classical Academy — on the seventh-grade reading list at the classical school in Lewisville, Texas, alongside The Jungle Book, posted by the Classic Learning Test in September 2026 as an example of what a classical curriculum assigns. It sits in the background of every survival book on the list after it. The full eight-year sequence is on Founders Classical Academy Reading List.

About this edition

Buck, a large domestic dog from a California ranch, becomes a sled dog, learns the law of club and fang, works his way to lead dog, is nearly killed by an incompetent owner, is saved by John Thornton, and after Thornton’s death goes to the wolves. Published 1903, and London’s most-read book.

Connections

• Founders Classical Academy Reading List — the curriculum this came from; 56 unique titles across 5th through 12th grade.
• Classical Education — the movement whose canon this list is.
• Jack London
• The Jungle Book
• Literature