**Eisner Award Winner: Best Publication for Teens Eisner Award Nominee: Best Reality-Based Work **

**Eisner Award Winner: Best Publication for Teens Eisner Award Nominee: Best Reality-Based Work **

** Laika was the abandoned puppy destined to become Earth's first space traveler. This graphic novel follows her journey.*Nick Abadzis masterfully blends fiction and fact in the intertwined stories of three compelling lives. Along with Laika, there is Korolev, once a political prisoner, now a driven engineer at the top of the Soviet Union's space program, and Yelena, the lab technician responsible for Laika's health and life. This intense triangle is rendered with the pitch-perfect emotionality of classics like Because of Winn Dixie *, Shiloh, and Old Yeller. Abadzis gives life to a pivotal moment in modern history, casting light on the hidden moments of deep humanity behind history.