A kid just asked me for a book about the Iditarod and I immediately thought of this. I probably read it five times when I was eleven years old. I remember it being soooo good, but I'm a little afraid to reread it. It's so depressing when your childhood favorites don't measure up to your standards as an adult. ( )

Bright Dawn is a young Inuit woman (called Eskimo in the book). Her family has recently moved from their native village by the ocean to a town further inland. Her father while out hunting had become traumatized when he got stranded on an ice floe and nearly died. He couldn’t face the sea again, so the family uprooted. Bright Dawn is troubled by all this, but in town she finds an unexpected opportunity to participate in the Iditarod with her sled dog team. The leader, Black Star, is part wolf. Her father never liked Black Star as well as the other dogs due to his willfullness and independent nature, but Bright Dawn finds that an asset in the grueling race. At the start she becomes off-and-on-again companion to another racer, an older man named Oteg. This man wants to camp with her, give her advice, tell her stories. She appreciates some of this, isn’t sure if she believes all the old stories, and then starts to feel like he’s holding her back. In the end, she has to follow her own decisions and trust in her lead dog. They face many dangerous obstacles (including encounters with a wolf pack, angry bull moose, terrifyingly bad weather, and treacherous ice). Bright Dawn really wants to win the race, but she doesn’t hesitate to stop and help others who need it on the way and to care for her dogs properly. I wouldn’t say she finds herself on the race, more that she grows into who she’s been all along. It’s nice to read details that mesh with others from stories I’ve read of Inuit in the past, or of sled-dog mushing. A lot of the traditional Inuit customs, and beliefs recounted by Oteg were ones I hadn’t heard of before. I also liked that at the very end of the story, Bright Dawn’s father has the opportunity to face his fears in order to help his daughter. That felt a little contrived, but not terribly. To me this story felt rather calm due to the somewhat understated writing style, but I bet younger readers would find it exciting. ( )

A fourth grade student and I agreed to each read a different volume of Scott O'Dell's and I chose "Black Star, Bright Dawn," and I am glad. It is the story of an Eskimo girl whose family moves from the coast inland after her father, Bartok, is stranded on an ice floe while seal hunting. While he survives physically, he leaves his profession & agrees to train for the Iditarod (a grueling dogsled race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska). Soon he is injured. His daughter, 18-year-old Bright Dawn, agrees to replace him at the behest of Bartok's backers. She loves the dogs, but Black Star, a husky-wolf mix is her favorite.

The story is one of adventure and quiet intensity. When she is to leave, she is told, "Be of good cheer." Later, she is advised by an older racer that "[t]he race is won by thinking." Sturdy Bright Dawn proves to be resourceful, compassionate and ingenious. O'Dell's descriptions of the environment--the sparkling darkness, the ubiquitous cold, the dogs buried in snow so that "[j]ust their noses showed"--and Bright Dawn's travails in the weather and wildlife (moose attack!) make for a splendid, snowy immersion in the far north.

This title will appeal to readers who enjoy adventure stories and/or animal tales. ( )

A fourth grade student and I agreed to each read a different volume of Scott O'Dell's and I chose "Black Star, Bright Dawn," and I am glad. It is the story of an Eskimo girl whose family moves from the coast inland after her father, Bartok, is stranded on an ice floe while seal hunting. While he survives physically, he leaves his profession & agrees to train for the Iditarod (a grueling dogsled race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska). Soon he is injured. His daughter, 18-year-old Bright Dawn, agrees to replace him at the behest of Bartok's backers. She loves the dogs, but Black Star, a husky-wolf mix is her favorite.

The story is one of adventure and quiet intensity. When she is to leave, she is told, "Be of good cheer." Later, she is advised by an older racer that "[t]he race is won by thinking." Sturdy Bright Dawn proves to be resourceful, compassionate and ingenious. O'Dell's descriptions of the environment--the sparkling darkness, the ubiquitous cold, the dogs buried in snow so that "[j]ust their noses showed"--and Bright Dawn's travails in the weather and wildlife (moose attack!) make for a splendid, snowy immersion in the far north.

This title will appeal to readers who enjoy adventure stories and/or animal tales. ( )

A fascinating look at Eskimo (that's what he calls them - what he has them call themselves) ways. Almost an enjoyable story, too - the details of the race were amazing. However, I was disappointed overall. There are a _lot_ of threads that just get dropped, and more that are passed over with bare notice. The whole thing with the white wolf, for one; her father's breakthrough; her placement in the race...events happen, some of which ought to be momentous, and the story barely pauses to notice them as it passes on. Not a winner, for me. ( )