Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac

I'm a sucker for any historical fiction novel about World War II, so I was happy to see this YA novel be nominated for the Adventure Seekers portion of PPYA. It's always been on my to-read list, but I just never managed to read it. I knew about the Marines using the Navajo as code talkers in World War II, but never really knew the details. After reading this historical fact-driven novel, I feel like I know much more. In fact, that may be the only downfall--this reads a lot like a nonfiction book, but that makes it more attractive to some readers.

Ned Begay is sent off to boarding school from the reservation and has to learn to become "white" and denounce all things Navajo until it's discovered that the white man needs his language. The Navajo language is difficult to learn and a code developed from that language becomes the secret code of the Americans in the Pacific in the 1940s. But they aren't just code talkers--they fight, run between bullets, take hits, and die while in the Marines. The code talkers were sworn to secrecy until 1969, when computers could take the place of their code. Joseph Bruchac, while not Navajo, seemed to do a great job staying true to the Navajo ways in this book (at least to this white girl).  This story needs to be told to teenagers, and this novel is a great way for it to be told. My copy at PCHS is missing/lost, and I plan on purchasing a paperback soon.