SuitabookTrust and friendship
Laika distrusts people, while Nina is lonely; their relationship grows after they meet in her father’s laboratory.
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Book details
Megan Shepherd - Author
This looks like a character-led story about an unlikely friendship formed amid loneliness, secrecy and competing space programmes. It combines an animal’s struggle to trust people with a child’s effort to understand unsettling changes around her.
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?
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Sign in for personalised guidanceThis looks like a character-led story about an unlikely friendship formed amid loneliness, secrecy and competing space programmes. It combines an animal’s struggle to trust people with a child’s effort to understand unsettling changes around her.
Laika distrusts people, while Nina is lonely; their relationship grows after they meet in her father’s laboratory.
The book includes a stray puppy fighting for survival, training for space travel, school bullying, loneliness and a parent’s secretive work.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: the current material supports only a cautious reading; another book-specific source is still needed.
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