A striking front cover illustration shows a close-up of a husky’s eyes, one brown and the other blue. Joosse’s lyrical text begins the story of Ziva, the dog with the differently colored eyes, on the night of her birth, when “the wind held its breath.”“Two-color eyes spooked most mushers. They said it made a dog half-wild.” Ziva lives up to that belief, always lunging at her chain when the wolves howl. When a sled-dog driver (a “musher”) finally adopts Ziva, his patience and gentle manner eventually win her loyalty. But when Ziva has the chance to run free with the wolves, the suspense is palpable. Will she stay with her human companion, or choose to live in the wild? In describing the attachment between human and animal, the author successfully creates a heartwarming story that isn’t cloyingly sentimental. (Ages 5–8)