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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
The concept of this book was good, and I learned a lot from it. It wasn’t bad, necessarily, but it wasn’t good either. I found it very dry and full of dates and names that I’m not going to remember.
I’d recommend it if you like history. If you’re hoping for an action-packed novel, this isn’t really it. (I mean, there is action, but not as much as I would have hoped, and I got somewhat bored anyway.)
Three stars is my way of saying “meh.” It was a book. Not a good book, not a bad book, just a book.
I’d recommend it if you like history. If you’re hoping for an action-packed novel, this isn’t really it. (I mean, there is action, but not as much as I would have hoped, and I got somewhat bored anyway.)
Three stars is my way of saying “meh.” It was a book. Not a good book, not a bad book, just a book.
I picked this book up on a whim at Barnes & Noble back at the end of June, because a) it sounded interesting (I mean, how often do you find books about First Peoples' experiences during war?!), and b) it was only $7 so I could afford to take the risk.
And I was pleasantly surprised to find this was a comprehensive and fast paced novel about a subject that I've found intriguing since..........okay, fine. Since I was a total X-Phile and there was that whole arc at the start of season 3 where Mulder thinks he's found aliens on Navajo land but really it's just a train car full of weirdly decayed people. Look, I was a dumb, impressionable teenager with a lot of Feelings About The X-Files, and Navajo culture as portrayed in that three episode arc was super interesting to me.
Somewhere down the track, I found out about the Navajo code talkers and was like "HOLY SHIT THAT'S AWESOME, TELL ME MORE". And yet there were no books available - it was more a paragraph or two tacked onto histories of World War II, which didn't provide a sufficient amount of detail.
In this, Bruchac provides a substantial amount of fact set around a fictional character. Sure, the characterisation may not be that great at times. And yes, it's often a little simplistic because it covers so much ground in such a short number of pages.
But as far as a basic overview of Navajo experiences in the 20th century and their experiences during World War II? It's pretty decent. Though be warned - because it's supposed to be a grandfather telling his story to his grandchildren, it does read at times like oral history or non-fiction, and it's lacking in emotion when discussing the war.
And I was pleasantly surprised to find this was a comprehensive and fast paced novel about a subject that I've found intriguing since..........okay, fine. Since I was a total X-Phile and there was that whole arc at the start of season 3 where Mulder thinks he's found aliens on Navajo land but really it's just a train car full of weirdly decayed people. Look, I was a dumb, impressionable teenager with a lot of Feelings About The X-Files, and Navajo culture as portrayed in that three episode arc was super interesting to me.
Somewhere down the track, I found out about the Navajo code talkers and was like "HOLY SHIT THAT'S AWESOME, TELL ME MORE". And yet there were no books available - it was more a paragraph or two tacked onto histories of World War II, which didn't provide a sufficient amount of detail.
In this, Bruchac provides a substantial amount of fact set around a fictional character. Sure, the characterisation may not be that great at times. And yes, it's often a little simplistic because it covers so much ground in such a short number of pages.
But as far as a basic overview of Navajo experiences in the 20th century and their experiences during World War II? It's pretty decent. Though be warned - because it's supposed to be a grandfather telling his story to his grandchildren, it does read at times like oral history or non-fiction, and it's lacking in emotion when discussing the war.
God this was a miserable book to read. It was practically just a list of World War II events in the Pacific with a poorly voiced narrator. I'm not even convinced Ned Begay was a real person.
Like this is an important concept and yet it was so poorly executed, I think I would've gotten more from a "Dear America" book. Honestly it feels like only 30% of the book is actually about Navajo Code Talkers.
Like this is an important concept and yet it was so poorly executed, I think I would've gotten more from a "Dear America" book. Honestly it feels like only 30% of the book is actually about Navajo Code Talkers.
What an interesting story. I have never heard how the Navajo's helped during WW2 in school. Would recommend this book to any middle or high school students.
I never really learned much about the Pacific part of World War II. This chronicles a remarkable time when Navajos were integral to winning the war against Japan. It is a slight fictionalization of a very real historical event. The history and culture should be fascinating (and it IS interesting) but by and large, I found the actual execution of it a little dry. I feel it would have been better to either have more history or more drama. It felt somehow stuck in the middle. I never really connected to the main character. The conceit is that it is a man telling a story to his grandchildren but it feels like a transcript and not really alive.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm a big fan of history especially when it comes to small minority groups and espionage, as a result this book immediately caught my interest. It's told from the perspective of an old man telling his story to his grandchildren and it makes the book very approachable. It doesn't bombard you with military lingo or assumes you have any prior knowledge of WWII. I have a complicated relationship with our main character and his interactions with the white soldiers he befriended. While they were genuinely nice people some of his reactions to the racism or microaggressions other native characters brought up was lacking. He was patriotic for America but it didn't make any sense for him to be. It also gives us a look into American Indian boarding schools written by someone of Native descent. While calling on the values and experiences that are important to him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, War
Moderate: Death
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol
Not much to say on this one. It’s not its fault that this is ya but I guess I will it was a little less YA. Need some....emotions....
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced