Akiak: A Tale from the Iditarod

K-Gr 3--Blake escorts readers over the 1151 miles of the actual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race course, following in the pawsteps of his fictional heroine, Akiak, an aging team leader running it for the last time. The arctic-toned oils and the endpaper maps give strong visual support to the text as readers share Akiak's frustration at being pulled from the event due to a sore paw and cheer her escape to follow her team. Alone, she trails them for five days, deflects them from a false trail, and rides triumphantly into Nome to the cheers of the crowd, proudly perched on the sled. The care and support facilities for the dogs should reassure anyone's concern over the animals' welfare in this grueling race, and the fine illustrations give a properly frigid impression of the vast distances and inhospitable landscape to be traversed. Team Akiak with Gary Paulsen's Dogteam (Delacorte, 1993) and Patricia Siebert's Mush! (Millbrook, 1992) and children will have a clear understanding of the passionate enthusiasm to pull bred into the heart of every dog who has ever run the Iditarod.--Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY

In engrossing prose, this fictional tale chronicles the 10-day Iditarod run for 10-year-old Akiak, a veteran lead dog, who is running her final race. As the dog who knows the trail better than any other, she's run seven races but never come in first: "This was her last chance. Now, they must win now." On the fourth day, the husky is pulled from the race because of a sore paw, and Mick, her team's musher, decides to fly her home. But Akiak flees; she escapes checkpoint officials and heroically pursues her team, which is hours ahead. Her determination in the face of hunger, fatigue and blizzard conditions soon wins the support of mushers and spectators alike (one spread shows a family who has put out food for her watching from a lighted window). In smooth, journalistic style, Blake (Riptide) nimbly plaits Akiak's solitary quest with the team's struggle to win without her. The suspense mounts with Akiak's surprise reappearance, then peaks in sweet victory at the finish line. Blake's thickly brushed oil paintings depict the hardship of the journey, as snow takes on many faces: it's a docile white beard in a dog's fur, a disorienting force in a blinding storm and, in many a landscape spread, a vast expanse of cornflower blue and violet. Here, narrative and artwork pull equal weight to give readers a memorable ride. Ages 5-up. (Sept.)

This fictional tale chronicles the 10-day Iditarod run for a veteran lead dog running her final race. According to PW, "Narrative and artwork pull equal weight to give readers a memorable ride." Ages 5-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.