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A review by laura_cs
Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
5.0
I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lately, Navajo middle schooler Nizhoni Begay has been seeing monsters everywhere. She knows that they are monsters, but voices her concerns to only her younger brother, Mac, for fear of being mocked or not believed. But when the latest monster shows up at her basketball game--and turns out to actually be her dad's new boss--she knows something big is about to happen. At least, that's what Mr. Yazzie (her stuffed horned lizard) says. When Nizhoni learns that her father has been kidnapped, it sends her, Mac, and her best friend Davery on a quest to the Sun. Along the way, they encounter the Holy People of Navajo mythos, and Nizhoni learns more about her past as the descendant of the Hero Twins and her future as a monsterslayer...
A fantastic middle school debut from Rebecca Roanhorse, "Race to the Sun" is a brilliant novel featuring a Native American heroine and is a great introduction to Navajo legends just as the "Percy Jackson" series is to Greek myth. A wonderful addition to the Rick Riordan Presents line-up, I hope to see more Native American stories in the future from both Roanhorse and the imprint. Also, having been to many of the locations in the book in New Mexico and around the Navajo Nation, it was nice to return to these places in a fictional setting and I hope encourages readers to travel to the beautiful locations that Nizhoni and her friends visit. (Well. The ones we mere mortals can access, anyways...)
Lately, Navajo middle schooler Nizhoni Begay has been seeing monsters everywhere. She knows that they are monsters, but voices her concerns to only her younger brother, Mac, for fear of being mocked or not believed. But when the latest monster shows up at her basketball game--and turns out to actually be her dad's new boss--she knows something big is about to happen. At least, that's what Mr. Yazzie (her stuffed horned lizard) says. When Nizhoni learns that her father has been kidnapped, it sends her, Mac, and her best friend Davery on a quest to the Sun. Along the way, they encounter the Holy People of Navajo mythos, and Nizhoni learns more about her past as the descendant of the Hero Twins and her future as a monsterslayer...
A fantastic middle school debut from Rebecca Roanhorse, "Race to the Sun" is a brilliant novel featuring a Native American heroine and is a great introduction to Navajo legends just as the "Percy Jackson" series is to Greek myth. A wonderful addition to the Rick Riordan Presents line-up, I hope to see more Native American stories in the future from both Roanhorse and the imprint. Also, having been to many of the locations in the book in New Mexico and around the Navajo Nation, it was nice to return to these places in a fictional setting and I hope encourages readers to travel to the beautiful locations that Nizhoni and her friends visit. (Well. The ones we mere mortals can access, anyways...)