Meredith Ackroyd (Children's Literature)
When Kii Yázhí is sent away to the Navaho mission school, he quickly learns what it is to be a Navaho in a white man’s world. At the mission school, he is given a white man’s name, Ned Begay, and he is forbidden to speak his Navaho language. In order to receive an education, Ned must leave his Navaho language behind. Although determined to excel in the white man’s school, Ned is also determined never to forget his Navaho language and culture. When World War II breaks out, Ned suddenly finds that his language is of value beyond the reservation: Prized for its complexity and obscurity, the Marines use the Navaho language to develop a secret military code, recruiting Ned and other Navahos as top-secret code talkers. It is in war that Ned comes of age, as he learns about life and death, friendship, race relations, and the pride to be found in one’s language and culture. Though far from home, Ned is able to sustain and renew his faith and pride in his Navaho language, culture, and beliefs. A first-person fictional account of the Navaho code talkers in World War II, Bruchac presents a detailed look at the history and culture of the Navaho people. Although at times his main character seems to serve more as a vessel for history than to tell his own story (often at the expense of the emotional impact of personal events), the book presents an interesting and important multicultural perspective on American history. 2005, Dial Books/Penguin Group, $16.99. Ages 12 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, 2006)
Grandchildren, you asked me about this medal of mine.” So begins the story of Ned Begay, a Navajo Code Talker who served in World War II. Author Joseph Bruchac uses the strong oral tradition of the Navajo people as a way for his fictional character to pass an important story of culture and pride on to his grandchildren. Ned begins with his life as a child, when he was mistreated and poorly educated in an Indian boarding school run by whites. The message he hears over and over again is “Tradition is the enemy of progress.” He and his classmates are robbed of their culture and forbidden from speaking the Navajo language. But when World War II erupts, the U.S. government realizes the Navajo language offers something invaluable: the basis of an unbreakable code for wartime use. The complexities of the language make Navajo soldiers the best suited for developing and then using the code. Ned becomes one of the first code talkers trained and soon finds himself in the midst of the war in the Pacific. The horrors of discrimination and the harrows of battle are never minced in Bruchac’s honest novel. An author’s note at the end explains more about the real code talkers, whose contributions did not become public until 1969, and a bibliography offers more sources on the topic. CCBC Category: Fiction for Young Adults. 2005, Dial, 231 pages, $16.99. Ages 12-17.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 2))
Sixteen-year-old Ned Begay detested life in the Navajo mission school where he was sent. There, "anything that belonged to the Navajo way was bad, and our Navajo language was the worst." However, in one of the greatest ironies in American history, when WWII broke out, Navajos-victims of the US Army effort to destroy them in the 1860s and the harshness of the mission schools in the 20th century-were recruited by the Marine Corps to use their native language to create an unbreakable code. Navajo is one of the hardest of all American Indian languages to learn, and only Navajos can speak it with complete fluency. So, Ned Begay joined a select group of Navajo code talkers to create one code the Japanese couldn't break. Telling his story to his grandchildren, Ned relates his experiences in school, military training, and across the Pacific, on Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. With its multicultural themes and well-told WWII history, this will appeal to a wide audience. (author's note, bibliography) 2005, Dial, 240p, $16.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 10 up. Starred Review. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Paula Rohrlick (KLIATT Review, March 2005 (Vol. 39, No. 2))
Ned Begay leaves his sheepherding Navajo family at age six for a strict mission school, where his mouth is washed out with soap for speaking his native language and he is told to forget about his heritage. Years later he is delighted when the Marines come to specifically recruit Navajos for "special duty" in WW II and Ned discovers, on enlisting at age 16, that it is their unique language the Marines prize. He joins the all-Navajo 297th Platoon and is sent to a special code school, where he learns an unbreakable top-secret code based on Navajo: a code so secret that the government only declassified the story in 1969 (they had thought they might use the code again). The Navajo "code talkers" saw action in the Pacific, transmitting codes the Japanese could not break. Ned goes from the dry sands of his native lands to the steamy jungles of Guadalcanal, Bougainville Island, and Iwo Jima. Other Marines are assigned to keep him safe, but nevertheless he is wounded in Guam. Ned's terrible experiences in battle change him, but as he relates this story to his grandchildren, he conveys his pride in the vital contribution he and his fellow Navajos made to win the war. Bruchac, who is of Abenaki heritage, has written many books for young readers. This one is close to his heart, as an author's note at the end makes clear, and it tells an important story. The novel is somewhat research-heavy, with many dates and statistics, but there are dramatic moments, too, and readers unfamiliar with the fascinating story of the code talkers will come away impressed with their achievements. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2005, Penguin, Dial, 240p. bibliog., $16.99. Ages 12 to 18.

Melissa Bergin (Library Media Connection, February 2006)
Six-year-old Navajo Ned Begay promises to learn the language of the white people as he leaves home for the mission school. His family realizes that to protect the Navajo, they will need to work within the legal system of the government including having leaders who can communicate in English. Ironically, while the mission school tries to extinguish everything Navajo about the children, it is their native language that becomes valuable. While still in high school, Ned enlists in the Marines during World War II and becomes a part of history that neither he nor the other involved Navajos could mention for many years-code talkers. Faster than Morse code and more secure than other code methods of the time, Ned tells of how he and almost 400 others were part of Marine units that relayed battle messages across the Pacific including the battle of Iwo Jima. Told from the perspective of a grandfather telling the history to his grandchildren, Bruchac's voice as a master storyteller weaves stories, characters, and research into a compelling story of war, sacrifice, and personal journey. Heavily researched, this is a novel of still little known part of history within a culture and the larger United States that will leave readers with a different perspective of World War II. Highly Recommended. 2005, Dial Press (Penguin Putnam), 240pp., $16.99 hc. Ages 11 to 15.

Timnah Card (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February 2005 (Vol. 58, No. 6))
In a retrospective narrative addressed to his grandchildren, Ned Begay describes his degrading experiences with biligaana (white) schools as a youngster and his frightening yet liberating tour of duty as a Navajo code talker in the Pacific in World War II. Ned’s explanation of the challenges Indians faced in times of war and peace is moving but never mawkish; the delicate position of all indigenous peoples is made painfully obvious through carefully worded tribal declarations and individual avowals of loyalty to the government that has oppressed these people for generations. However, this is a book about victory, not victimization; the focus is firmly on the resiliency and grace of Native America in the most trying of times. Part of that grace is displayed as Ned depicts white soldiers, Japanese civilians, and Pacific Islanders with compassion (his view of the Japanese military is understandably less evenhanded). Though Ned’s own character is laid back and sympathetic to an almost eerie extent, he consistently attributes his own unshakable serenity to the support he receives from his family and community through their participation in the Navajo Way. Other famous code talkers are introduced throughout (along with a certain future president), several of whom respond less well to their ambiguous status after serving honorably in the military. That realistic perspective, combined with multiple heart-stopping battle scenes, makes this detailed novel a dramatic yet thoughtful complement to nonfiction offerings such as Aaseng’s Navajo Code Talkers (BCCB 12/92). An author’s note and selected bibliography expand the historical picture. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2005, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2005, Dial, 240p, $16.99. Grades 7-12.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2005)
Unconvincingly framed as reminiscence that a WWII veteran shares with his grandchildren, this novel is larded with military history, information about the Navajo code-talkers, and awkwardly set passages about the beauty and natural wisdom of Navajo life. There is no plot, characterization is generic, and while real people are part of the story, their dialogue is fictionalized and unlikely. Bib. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2005, Dial, 231pp, 16.99. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 5: Marginal, seriously flawed, but with some redeeming quality.

Monica Irwin (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews, (Vol. 18, No. 2))
Using historical fact, Bruchac weaves a tale about a fictional Marine serving his country in World War II. As a boy, Ned Begay, a Navajo Indian, was taught that his language was useless. When America enters World War II, he signs up to serve in the Marines and then becomes a “Code Talker.” He is surprised when his country decides that very language may be what protects the millions of American soldiers. He suffers much discrimination and grows into adulthood quickly. This story tells of the bravery of those Code Talkers and all the men who served during World War II. The tale is told in a methodical way using the “voice” of Ned as a grandfather. It is reminiscent of many books written by and about Native Americans. The characters are deeply drawn and completely believable. Because the book is so well written, readers will want to know more and will be willing to do additional research. It is inspiring and does great honor to all soldiers and particularly to the men of the Navajo people who served so heroically. This fascinating story will be a quality choice for all middle school and high school libraries. Fiction, Highly Recommended. Grades 6 and up. 2005, Dial, 231p., $16.99. Ages 11 to 16.

Jamie S. Hansen (VOYA, April 2005 (Vol. 28, No. 1))
At the age of six, Navajo Kii Yazhi is sent to the mission school in Gallup, New Mexico, where he is immediately shorn of his hair, his language, and his name. Even though told repeatedly that Navajo is a worthless language, Kii Yazhi, now called Ned Begay, manages to retain his native tongue through graduation and passage into high school. When the United States enters World War II, sixteen-year-old Ned lies about his age and enlists in the Marines. Because he still remembers his own language despite his re-education efforts at the hands of whites, Ned is selected to become one of the Navajo Marines who use a complex native language to create an unbreakable code for wartime communication. Together with others of his people, the young Marine is sent into the bloody Pacific Theater, seeing action at Guam, Iwo Jima, Suribachi, and Okinawa. Bruchac's fictional Ned Begay represents all the Navajo Marines who, despite their treatment by white America, fought valiantly in foreign wars. Ned tells his own story in simple, measured prose, as a grandfather's tale to his grandchildren. The author never allows his lovely and poignant novel to become a polemic against the mindless abuse of the mission schools or the horrors of war in the Pacific, but he instead offers a portrait of a brave and generous man who represents any teenager caught in the forces of history. This fine novel should find a place in all collections serving young adults. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2005, Dial, 240p., $16.99. Ages 11 to 18.