Togo

Book excerpt: Based on the true story of the heroic dogs who saved countless lives in Alaska in 1925, this classic tale is a thrilling adventure and a history lesson all in one. Togo wasn't meant to be a sled dog. He was too feisty and independent to make a good team member, let alone a leader. But Togo is determined, and when his trainer, Leonhard Seppala, gives him a chance, he soon becomes one of the fastest sled dogs in history! His skills are put to the ultimate test, though, when Seppala and his team are called on to make the now-famous run across the frozen Arctic to deliver the serum that will save Alaska from a life-threatening outbreak of diphtheria. In the style of Akiak, winner of the Irma S. and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, Robert J. Blake's detailed, carefully researched oil paintings complete the story of the adventure that inspired the internationally famous Iditarod race.