Black Nell chronicles the adventures of an Eastern coyote along an abandoned railway line in Northern Ontario. We follow Nell through her first year of life as she searches the countryside for a mate. Nell is a survivor, the bearer of a distinctive black coat that makes her a moving target for coyote predators. Of all the perils of wildlife existence, however, it soon becomes clear that the greatest threat to her is human behaviour, as Nell is shot by hunters, caught in a trap, and finally hit by a car on the highway.

This is the first novel by Shirley Woods, the Nova Scotian author of 10 non-fiction books, including The Squirrels of Canada. He is a solid prose writer, showing considerable restraint in his more descriptive passages. But although Woods is conservative, he is never boring. The dark rainy April day on which Nell is born comes to life with his careful composition of sentences.

One of the most difficult aspects of writing an animal story is finding the right voice with which to tell it. Woods resists leaning on anthropomorphism. Rather, he tackles the more dangerous task of speaking on Nell’s behalf. The risk is in finding the correct balance between a naturalist’s respect for realism and an author’s use of imagination.
Woods succeeds, for the most part, because he allows Nell to experience a full range of emotions without giving her human-like expressions. Thus we know when Nell is happy, frightened, or lonely although we don’t get to know her as intimately as we do some animal protagonists.

This book is not for every child. The cover, with its muted shades and simple design, is less appealing than Celia Godkin’s beautiful black and white illustrations inside. The lower-end vocabulary makes it more suitable for younger readers. The subject matter is specific and so is its audience. But for nature story fans and animal lovers, Black Nell is a pleasant afternoon’s read.