Akiak: A Tale from the Iditarod

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.)