Black Star, Bright Dawn: Chapters 1–5

by Scott O'Dell
Due to her father’s injury, 18-year-old Bright Dawn takes his place in the Iditarod, the annual dogsled race in Alaska. Below zero weather, hungry wolf packs, exhaustion, and a thinning sled dog pack test all her wits throughout this grueling, 1,179 mile trek.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–9, Chapters 10–15, Chapters 16–20
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. kayak
    a small, lightweight canoe traditionally used by the Inuit
    This is the best time to hunt in the kayak, the little canoe made of deerskin.
  2. husky
    a breed of heavy-coated Arctic sled dog
    "He's got too much wolf in him. His father came from Baffin Bay and had a lot of wolf blood. They bred him to a Siberian husky. So he's mostly wolf."
  3. lurk
    be about
    Hunting is dangerous. Danger lurks everywhere.
  4. collision
    an accident resulting from violent impact of a moving object
    The collision flung up great mounds and spires and ridges, mixed with sand and rock.
  5. floe
    a flat mass of ice drifting at sea
    Was my father on a floe that was drifting away from the shore?
  6. phobia
    an anxiety disorder characterized by irrational fear
    "I have seen a dozen cases like this before. Hunters who were caught on floating ice and drifted for days, for a week, not knowing at what hour they would freeze to death, afraid to sleep for fear they will not wake up....Not one of these men ever hunted again. It's a phobia."
  7. wan
    lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble
    My father came out of the shed huddled up in his parka and turned away from the sea, blinking in the wan light, smiling a wan smile.
  8. tundra
    a vast treeless plain where subsoil is permanently frozen
    At first, we lived on the far side of the river, at the edge of the tundra, a great treeless place.
  9. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    Our makeshift house was made of birches bent over and tied at the tops and covered with caribou skins.
  10. perilous
    fraught with danger
    Ikuma was a check station on the Iditarod, the famous dog sled race that starts in Anchorage on the Gulf of Alaska, crosses rivers, vast stretches of frozen tundra, two great mountain ranges, and ends in Nome, on the Bering Sea, after 1,179 perilous miles.
  11. bedraggled
    limp, untidy, and soiled
    While I was at this, a musher came along, a woman with a team of bedraggled dogs.
  12. frostbite
    damage to bodily tissue caused by extreme cold
    She fell asleep in the chair. She had frostbite on her cheeks.
  13. grit
    clench together
    You put out the snow anchor, but the sled races on while you grit your teeth.
  14. glint
    a momentary flash of light
    My father rubbed his bad hand against his chin, a sudden glint in his eyes.
  15. dumbfounded
    as if rendered speechless with astonishment and surprise
    My father was dumbfounded.
Created on Wed Dec 17 19:00:12 EST 2025 (updated Mon Feb 02 16:06:26 EST 2026)

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