Relates the story of the fifteen-year-old Alaskan boy and his dogs as they prepare for and then run the 158-mile course of the Junior Iditarod Race.

Fueled by a passion for running dogs, Gary Paulsen entered the Iditarod, the 1150-mile winter sled-dog race between Anchorage and Nome, in dangerous ignorance and with fierce determination. Winterdance is his account of this seventeen-day battle against nature's worst elements and his own frailty.