While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack.

Charlie, an Inupiat boy, is excited about the upcoming festival to celebrate a successful whale hunt, but afraid when he thinks this might be the year he takes part in the traditional blanket toss. Includes glossary and notes on Inupiat whaling traditions.

"An award-winning writer delivers the inspiring, true story of Alaskan Eskimo students who, despite lacking world knowledge and speaking English as a second language, manage to achieve great educational feats."--From source other than the Library of Congress