Reading the North

By Marilyn Clements (Llumina Kids)

The blurb: Benson is a Siberian husky, training hard for the Iditarod. But not everyone racing is an honest as Benson's trainer. While crossing a dangerous stretch, Benson will find Rosie, a red-haired husky dognapped by Zelda, the evil musher.

Excerpt: "The morning of the announcements finally came. Benson was a little nervous because he wanted it so badly. His mom was right there by his side.

"'Benson, you have worked so hard for this, and I know you've done your absolute best.'

As Musher Mo approached Benson with the results card in his hand, Benson's paws began to sweat.

"'Well, Benson, are you ready?' Musher Mo asked, trying to fight back a smile."

Rescue Warriors: The U.S. Coast Guard, America's Forgotten Heroes

By David Helvarg (Thomas Dunne Books, $25.95)

The blurb: From the rooftop rescue missions during the disaster of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans to the training of "Surfmen" (and women) in the breaking seas of Washington's Columbia Bar to recent helicopter rescues in the frigid storm-tossed waters off Alaska's Bering Sea, this is the first book to give a comprehensive look at America's premier lifesavers and forgotten Armed Service.

Excerpt: "Among the surprises during the ice-free summer of 2007 was the transiting of three cruise ships through the Northwest Passage and the unannounced arrival of a shipload of four hundred German-speaking tourists on the beach in the Arctic town of Barrow, Alaska. A number of fishing boats were also seen moving from the Bering Sea into the Arctic Circle, following a shift of edible fish species north.

"The summer of 2008 became a test bed for the Coast Guard to assess its needs if maritime services are to be extended from southern and central Alaska to the fast-melting west and north."

Tide, Feather, Snow: A Life in Alaska

By Miranda Weiss (HarperCollins, $24.99)

The blurb: When Miranda Weiss first moved to the coastal town of Homer, she realized that in Alaska, life is governed by natural forces. Her memoir captures the magnificence and splendor of Alaska and reveals Weiss' personal journey of adventure, physical challenge and change.

Excerpt: "The beetles had been killing spruce in the region in cycles for hundreds of years. But by the late 1980s, the climate here was warming measurably. The winters got milder and the summers warmer, causing a historic population explosion among the beetles. In less than 10 years the forests were leveled. 'We were shell-shocked,' an old-timer told me. As the woods fell, houses that had been closely hugged by spruce now stood naked, bare to the road and to neighbors. Some homes enjoyed a bay and glacier view for the first time, but these new views raised property taxes."