In 1925, a deadly diphtheria epidemic swept through icebound Nome, Alaska. The life-saving serum was a thousand miles away, and a blizzard was brewing. Airplanes could not fly in such conditions: only the dogs could do it. Racing against death, twenty dog teams relayed the serum across the Alaskan wilderness as newspapers nationwide headlined the drama, enthralling an entire generation. The heroic dash to Nome inspired the annual Iditarod Dog Sled Race in Alaska and immortalized Balto, the lead dog whose arrival in Nome over a snow-blown trail was an American legend in the making. His bronze statue still stands in New York City's Central Park, in dedication to the "Endurance, Fidelity and Intelligence" of the dogs that saved Nome. This is their story, the greatest dog story never fully told, until now.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 06/17/2003
ISBN: 9780393019629
Pages: 320
Weight: 1.39lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.50w x 1.07d

Review Citations: Library Journal Prepub Alert 02/15/2003 pg. 118
USA Today 03/31/2003 pg. 1
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2003 pg. 594
Publishers Weekly 05/19/2003 pg. 65
Entertainment Weekly 06/13/2003 pg. 102
Booklist 05/01/2003 pg. 1562
Library Journal 06/01/2003 pg. 142
New York Times 06/08/2003 pg. 17
School Library Journal 12/01/2003 pg. 178
Library Journal 02/15/2003

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 77825 / Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic
Reading Level: 8.4 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 16