Dog Driven

Dog Driven is a realistic novel about a dog sled race along Lake Superior and a girl who is suffering a debilitating visual disease called Stargardt’s, a condition that will lead to blindness in a young person. The story of the race in the novel is told from two different points of view. The major plot revolves around the adventure of the 14-year-old heroine, McKenna Barney. A series of letters dating from 1896 of a similar journey are interspersed throughout the novel. There is a really useful map of the Commemorative Great Superior Mail Run at the beginning of the book that illustrates just how many miles or kilometers the dog sled racers have to cover to get to the end of the race. It is also provides good reference points to refer to when following the progress the heroine makes on her race.

Unlike what happens in most YA novel, McKenna’s parents play an important role since they are the reason the heroine doesn’t reveal her worries about her worsening eyesight. While Dog Driven never feels like a book based around an issue, McKenna’s poor eyesight is a huge challenge she has to deal with and the reader will worry about her safety.

In spite of McKenna’s young age, Terry Lynn Johnson, the author, provides enough assurances of her skill and experience to make her a credible contestant in the race. On the journey, the heroine learns that the two other racers she meets and gets to know have their own problems, and she learns that she has to admit to others, as well as herself, that she is almost blind.

Dog Driven is fast paced and exciting. The author describes the dog race and the wilderness setting in realistic and believable terms as she has a familiarity with mushing a dog team life in the northern Canadian woods. Dog Driven would be of special interest to readers who are familiar with the books of Gary Paulson since a major theme is survival in a wilderness that is unfamiliar to the heroine. It would also appeal to those readers that enjoy animal stories.