DOG STAR

Laika is a stray struggling to stay alive on the cold, mean streets of Moscow; Nina, 12, is the daughter of a scientist working at the Institute of Space Medicine.

It’s 1957, the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union is on, and the Soviets are determined to be the first to send a living creature into space. When they settle on dogs, Laika is plucked off the streets as a recruit, and her path crosses with Nina’s during a family visit day at the Institute after the little dog has been brought in for testing. A bond immediately forms between them, and Nina engineers a service project through her Young Pioneers group so she can volunteer to care for Laika and the other dogs. The more invested Nina becomes in Laika, the more she begins to question the outright lies and lies of omission churned out by the Soviet propaganda machine, especially in light of her best friend Ludmilla’s family’s defection to the U.S. And when the question of Laika’s well-being arises, Nina will stop at nothing to protect her new friend. The narrative alternates between Nina’s and Laika’s points of view; Laika’s perspective is anthropomorphized with inner monologue as well as dialogue between dogs, and this works to the story’s advantage in arousing sympathy for the small animal who was sacrificed for science.

A poignant story that accessibly illuminates a milestone in space exploration history.