When his father goes missing in the Gobi Desert while retracing the ancient route of Marco Polo, eleven-year-old Mark is determined to find out what has happened to him and so, through the exciting stories about the explorer told by the family doctor, Mark gathers the knowledge and musters the courage to take on the task. Simultaneous.
When Mark and his mother lose touch with his father's Gobi Desert expedition, they travel to Venice, Italy, and there, while waiting for news of his father, Mark learns about Marco Polo and his adventures in the Far East.
Newbery Honorwinning author Alan Armstrongs latest book!
Eleven-year-old Mark's anthropologist father has disappeared in the Gobi desert while tracing Marco Polos ancient route from Venice to China. His mother decides they must go to Venice to petition the agency that sent Marks father to send out a search party. Anxious about his father and upset about spending Christmas away from home, Mark gets a bad asthma attack in the middle of the night. Thats when Doc Hornaday, an old friend of Marks father, makes a house call, along with a massive black Tibetan mastiff called Boss. To distract Mark from his wheezing and to pass the long Venetian night, the Doc starts to spin for Mark the tale of Marco Polo. Doc describes Marcos travels and the boy finds himself falling under the spell of the story that has transfixed the world for centuries. Marcos journey bolsters Marks courage and whets his appetite for risk and adventure, and for exposure to life in all its immense and fascinating variety.
From the Hardcover edition.
