Black Star, Bright Dawn

Set in Alaska there are no leads opening. Instead the dogs are harnessed to hunt bearded seals. Black Star is the lead dog and much loved by Bright Dawn. Bartok, Bright Dawn's father, is not of the same opinion. Whilst hunting was typically men's work, since the death of her brother, Bright Dawn has become like a son. Alas Bartok gets stranded on a broken ice floe. Not only does he lose all the fingers on his right hand but it has scarred him emotionally. The doctor says they need to move away from the sea so the family leaves Womengo and goes to Ikuma.Bartok starts working for the cannery but does not enjoy it. He is challenged to enter the Iditarod. Whilst Ikuma is a checkpoint along the 1,179 mile route, no one from Ikuma has ever won the race. What follows is an exceptionally well-written, realistic experience on the Iditarod trail with Bright Dawn. Yes, she is the one who accepts the challenge. See how Bright Dawn converses with her competitors, 'handles' the wildlife along the way, learns how to build shelters, fights through all weathers and more.We used this book in our homeschool with our teenager. Both of us absolutely LOVED the book. A great read and one I would highly recommend with some good life lessons intertwined. I was not required to write a review but chose to do so. Thanks, Liz

I liked it but the ending was a little bit disappointing. Otherwise, I enjoyed reading this book. I didn't like that she wasn't first but this book did have a lesson. It's not about her winning it's about how much she cared about everyone else even though it was a race, and they were her opponents. She didn't' want anybody to feel that the race was unfair. It was about how much she cared about respecting the other opponents and having good sportsmanship that allowed her to be awarded. Because those qualities do matter. It shows that even if you're not very good at something that if you are respectful to others and have good sportsmanship that it pays off, that it matters. Still try your hardest but don't be disappointed if you can't do something because as long as you have good sportsmanship and you respect others that it matters.

I use this book with my adult literacy tutoring student. This is the second O'Dell book we have used and both are structured perfectly for a student to learn from. Each chapter stands alone as a lesson. We read one chapter for each lesson. The story is well done and the movement from chapter to chapter keeps my student interested in the book. I totally recommend this book for individual reading, oral reading to a class, or as a tool to teach reading to someone who has basic skills and wants to improve those skills.

In this book I really liked all the action and intensity. The only I disliked was getting to the intensity and excitement. I would recommend this book to young and old adults, and kids in age range of 10 and 14. I chose this rating because I think that Scott O' Dell really deserves it, and this was one of my favorite books of his.

This author takes historical people and events and creates a story to go along with it. My son, who is 12, loves this author so much we have purchased every book written by him. They have kept his attention, and he has reread several. My son's time and energy going into a book instead of an electronic device, can't ask for much more!

Its a great little book about dogs and a young woman who raced in the Iditerod.Takes you thru the hardship and the stress that the dogs and drivers are under, its not an easy race.Its a youngster's book as well as a quick read for an adult.We have several other of Scott O'Dell's books, I think my favourite is Island of the Blue Dolphins.

This was a Christmas gift for my niece. She’s read it 3 times since. Great choice.

I am looking for books for teens and have enjoyed O'dell's books. This was a good story of and teen running in the Iditerod race and also a glimpse of the life of an Eskimo girl and how she was living in two worlds. The old one of her Eskimo parents and the modern one of education and more choices. It was exciting and entertaining also.

bought this for my 10yo birthday, she loved it, I'll be buying more from Scott O'Dell

My ALL time favorite novel from back when i was a kid im SO excited to re read it thank you amazon for fulfilling my reading needs to the fullest!!

love it

Just as described, a great read, thank you.