Author: Megan Shepherd
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books: Red Menace by Lois Ruby
Laika by Nick Abadzis
Rating:
Summary (provided by publisher): Laika is a Cold Dog, a stray pup fighting for her life on the streets of Moscow. Then, one winter night, she is plucked from her alley to become a starflyer, a dog trained to travel into space. Distrustful of people, Laika tries to do everything she can to escape. That is, until she meets Nina.
Nina is a Cold Girl, lonely and full of questions. Her best friend has moved to America in a rush, leaving Nina to face the school bullies all by herself. Plus, her father’s work as a scientist in the Soviet Space Program grows more secretive by the day.
When the two meet in her father’s laboratory, their growing bond slowly warms the chill that has settled in each other’s hearts. As the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union grows fierce, Laika and Nina uncover shocking secrets and hard truths that will test their friendship. How will they find the courage to chase their dreams all the way to the stars?
My opinion: Personally, I was already fairly familiar with the story of Laika from Nick Abadzis's graphic novel. That book was almost exclusively the story of the dog, giving us primarily her perspective with some context from the human realm. Shepherd's story is far more human. Laika's chapters provide a simplified version of Nina's emotional conflict making the ideas easier for a young reader to grasp. But this book is Nina's story, using her age and the natural inclination to question the world and authority, to encourage the reader to consider political machinations and propaganda and the harm they cause to citizens. Some of the later scenes go too far and stretch our suspension of disbelief, but its a fairly solid and compelling read.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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