by Joseph Bruchac
Sometimes fiction is better for revealing truth. This novel enables Bruchac to tell much of the story of the pacific theater during WWII through the eyes of one character, now retelling the events to his grandchildren. I'm rather grateful for the framing device, it helps mute the horror somewhat. I...
An interesting read about the Navajo code talkers of WW II. The story itself was fascinating, and the author did a great job of distilling the complexity of the Pacific Campaign portion of WW II down to a readable level that didn't overwhelm a non-war-historian reader like me. However, I found the n...
3.5 stars. The annoying part for me was the story structure. Every time the narrator addresses his greandchildren it jerks me out of the story. Starts a little slow, but the war stuff is very well done.
7/3/11 ** A very interesting novel about a Navajo teen who enlisted in the Marines shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack; he joined a secret unit charged with creating and using a code based on the Navajo language to send messages throughout the Pacific theater. The story touches on issues with the ...