Review Detail

Ice Island is the story of thirteen year old Tatum, who loves sled dogs, the Iditarod, and everything about mushing a team of dogs. She dreams of owning her own dog team and entering the Iditarod when she turns eighteen. Her dreams seem very far away as her father works in a remote Alaskan location for the entire winter while Tatum and her mother work odd jobs just to scrimp and save. But then Tatum is given a sled dog by an Iditarod runner who is also a friend. And when a local boy sees her practicing sledding in the village, he asks her to help him practice for an upcoming race by doing a training run with him.

The run is fraught with danger when a blizzard strikes and what was supposed to be a two hour trip turns into five days. The story is gripping as Tatum and Cole battle to survive alone in a snow white wilderness without food or shelter. I loved the role the dogs play in the book--it reminded me of Jack London's Call of the Wild. The details about Alaskan villages, customs, weather, and way of life are so intricately woven into the story that I felt like I was there. This book is adventurous, lovely, and compelling in all the right ways. Readers will love it.