Fourteen-year-old McKenna Barney is running the race of her life. Her younger sister Emma is legally blind because of a condition called Stargardt disease, and McKenna is counting on winning a dogsledding race to raise both publicity and research dollars for a cure. There’s just one problem: McKenna, too, is losing her sight.
Although McKenna and her eight-dog team start out fast, the harsh Canadian terrain, her blurred vision and a blizzard put them in peril. McKenna keeps a cool head and her sense of humor, though, as she and another young musher, Guy, prank each other at rest stops along the race route and befriend Harper, a reluctant musher who’s racing at her parents’ insistence. During a tumultuous storm, the three even end up taking shelter in a cave together.
Along the way, McKenna learns that Guy will have to forfeit his dogs if he loses, and Harper wants to win so that she can finally stop racing all together. McKenna knows her own victory would bring solace to her parents and boost her self-confidence. But as her vision worsens, her terror at the notion of losing her independence along with her sight grows.
In Dog Driven, Terry Lynn Johnson’s love of dogs and the Canadian wilderness shines like a beacon. As in her previous books, including Ice Dogs and the Survivor Diaries series, Johnson’s female characters are relatable, strong and able to meet the challenges in their paths. Readers will respond to this warm tale of adventure and will see in McKenna a hero to emulate.
