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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
I teach high school English to Native American students, so I'm always on the lookout for books and stories that they can relate to. This one hit the mark in ways I didn't at first realize. The talk of boarding schools elicited a lot of conversations they have grown up hearing from their grandparents.
For this story itself, a really great read. I felt it bogged down a little at times during the war scenes, but overall a great story about something I think is really amazing, the power of language.
For this story itself, a really great read. I felt it bogged down a little at times during the war scenes, but overall a great story about something I think is really amazing, the power of language.
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.
I enjoyed the beginning of the book more than the middle and end. I learned a lot about the Navajo people and code talkers. I found that interesting but I didn’t enjoy how the story is told. I get that Ned is supposed to be telling this story to his grandchildren but it’s really tangential which makes the story feel disorganized to me. I look forward to teaching this book again next year.
this was really good! if you like WW2 books you might like this!
A magnificent fictionalized account of the famous Navajo Code Talkers who created an unbreakable code used to help win WWII. This is a story long unknown and well worth being remembered. A must read for boys, but girls will find it interesting as well.
Fascinating YA novel about the Navajo code talkers during World War II. Definitely a YA novel, but still interesting to learn more about the history and heroism of the code talkers.
Code Talker is very readable and well-researched. It feels like an actual memoir since it is written as if Ned Begay were telling the story to his grandchildren. The beginning of the book, which details his experiences in boarding school and high school, felt very authentic. I was also very interested in the parts about the code and how it was created.
I was worried that the war chapters might have too much graphic violence, but I felt that Bruchac handled that part quite well. Of course there is some violence, since this is a book about World War II, so I wouldn't suggest this book for younger students. I also felt that the chapters about war went on a bit too long, but maybe that was symbolic for how long the war lasted.
A favorite quote, as Ned offers to teach a fellow soldier in boot camp how to read: "All through Indian school we had been taught that white men knew everything. That day, for the first time, I realized several things. The first was that bilagaanaas are not born knowing everything. The second was that in many of the most important ways, white men are no different from Navajos. The third? That no matter who they are, people can always learn from each other."
I was worried that the war chapters might have too much graphic violence, but I felt that Bruchac handled that part quite well. Of course there is some violence, since this is a book about World War II, so I wouldn't suggest this book for younger students. I also felt that the chapters about war went on a bit too long, but maybe that was symbolic for how long the war lasted.
A favorite quote, as Ned offers to teach a fellow soldier in boot camp how to read: "All through Indian school we had been taught that white men knew everything. That day, for the first time, I realized several things. The first was that bilagaanaas are not born knowing everything. The second was that in many of the most important ways, white men are no different from Navajos. The third? That no matter who they are, people can always learn from each other."
I was intrigued by the topic and appreciated a Native (although not Navajo) author, but I think I need to read some non-fiction about the WWII Code Talkers, because the writing and story weren't particularly memorable or as impactful as I expected.
I learned a lot from this novel and think its' message is so well-articulated and important. My one qualm with it is that the second half really dragged for me in comparison to the first.. once they actually get to serving in the war, it doesn't really set itself apart from other historical fiction written for this age.