Based on a true incident, this book recounts the story of Ivan, a kindergartner in Moscow who in 1996 becomes separated from his family and has to survive as one of as many as two million children living on the streets and in the subway stations of Moscow and St. Petersburg, After the fall of Communism closed down most social services for families and orphans, street children did their best to find food and shelter any way they could, many of them succumbing to starvation and brutal winters. Ivan found a unique way to survive: he found himself a new family, a pack of stray dogs. The story of the boy who lived with the dogs makes for fascinating and heartbreaking reading. Scholastic recommends this book for ages 10-14, but there is plenty here to keep adults interested, too.