Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two

Bought it for Independent Reading for 11-year-old boy

My son and I both loved this book. He's not a reader, but it's told almost in the voice of a person sharing an Indian legend, which kept him interested through the slower parts. And I, as an adult, didn't find it too simplistic even though it was also perfect for an 11-year-old.

After we finished this book, my son asked me if there were other books like this because his teacher makes them find an Independent Reading book every month and he usually finds it torturous.

Highly, HIGHLY recommend.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Code Talker - review by parent

This book was one of the choices on the required summer reading list for 8th graders. My son is not a huge reader but enjoyed this book because it is well written and deals with a subject most people do not know about. The story begins with a straight forward account of how some Navajo children were sent to boarding schools to be "taught" how to be less Navajo. In particular, that the Navajo children should speak only English and not their native language. It talks about pride and, how for the narrator, this was a hurtful experience. However, during World War II, when enemies were breaking military codes, the Navajo language became instrumental in sending messages. Much of the book is about the battles for the South Pacific islands. Information is given when a fellow soldier is killed but it is presented in a matter-of-fact way without being too detailed (the reader comes away with a sadness about, for example, the loss of a friend). Importantly, the book tells about the pride felt by the Navajos who, ultimately, were respected by their peers.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

highly recommeneded

very hard to get into. but once you keep reading it becomes a very interesting book. it really lets you know about the past and lets you see it through others eyes and really lets you know how they felt

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The best book in the World!!!!!!!

I do not read very much at all. But this book i just could not put down. Also easy to understand too.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Informative

This book was all right. It was not my favorite WW2 novel, but it did surpass a few. This book was very informative, I learned a lot, but it wasn't absorbing. I often felt I was only being preached at, and I didn't even remember the main characters name, because everything seemed so impersonal. It felt like a history text book, and wasn't nearly dark enough for a WW2 novel. One thing it did manage to capture whole-heartedly was the Navajo spirit.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Code Talker Central

Code Talker is a historical fiction novel, written in a first person perspective. It follows the life of a Navajo Indian from his first days at a mission school to the end of World War II. Joseph Bruchac's fictional tale of Ned Begay not only provides an interesting story, but also has educational value.

The casual style in which Code Talker is written helps give some leeway in terms of formal writing. Bruchac uses the relaxed style to give extra detail or information, such as the meanings of military acronyms, or Navajo rituals. This extra information gives clarity to the story.

Bruchac himself is a Native American, and he expresses his fascination with the Navajo code talkers in the author's note at the end of the book. This enthusiasm is shown through a vast knowledge of both World War II and Navajo history.

That's not to say that the story is overpowered by facts and figures. They are only used to help give perspective, scale, and detail. The presence of so many details also helps to give believability to a fictional account.

I only have two complaints about the story: the book should have continued into Ned's post-war years in America, and it could have had a more mature perspective. That doesn't necessarily mean a story filled with blood and gore, but there could and should have been more sadness and death in a novel about World War II.

Code Talker is a good introductory novel about the Navajo code talkers in World War II. It also provides information on Navajo traditions, and the bibliography at the end of the book gives suggestions of further reading. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in a lesser-known aspect of World War II.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Navajo Marines in the Pacific

Code Talker is probably one of my favorite World War 11 novels ever. I really liked the suspense of how of the journey that Navajo Ned Begay (main character) when he was just a little boy growing up in a missionary school to then in the Pacific Ocean dodging bullets and sending messages in their sacred language. While Ned is in the Pacific in Japanese territory, we see through his eyes on how things are for him and his fellow comrades in war. Some things that Ned encounters may be happy and peaceful or scary when Ned becomes in a life or death situation which in my opinion makes a great thrilling book and keeps you wondering on what is going to happen next. I truly recommend this books to anyone who likes adventure, thrill, mystery, or likes to read about World War 11 books.

Navajo Warriors

The story is about Navajo Marines of World War Two. This book isn't for little kids it is an older kids' book. And the book is a great book to read especially if you like World War 2 and Navajo subjects then this is a book for you.

It is about a Navajo boy who is sent to a white school and is forbidden to talk his native talk. He is also told that Navajos are bad and worthless. Until Pearl Harbor was bombed Navajos were thought of in that way. When they went to war they had codes and the Japanese had broken all their codes so they used a Navajo man for an assignment and they decided that they were going to use Navajos. When he is fifteen he goes and enlists in the army and he becomes a code talker during World War 2. I am judging the book by how good it is and what I am interested in. My great grandpa fought in World War 2 and I've been interested ever since.

I have been into World War 2 books for a while and one of them I loved the most is called Elephant Run and it is about a boy that lived at Pearl Harbor. When they bombed it his mom sent him to live with his dad in a rain forest. As soon as he gets there the Japanese take over the island and take his dad to a prison camp while him and his friend Mya is forced to work for the general around the house. As they make a daring run on an elephant it is truly a good book.

So overall Code Talker is a great book that people should read. I rate this five out of five and it is one of the best books I have ever read. It is hard for me to find a book I will actually read and enjoy and this was one of the few of them and I wish the book wouldn't have ever ended.

One of the most exciting books I have read yet

When I first bought this book at my book fair I thought it was just a cool looking book. Then I started reading it and found that it was a really great book. I hate reading books normally and very few books catch my attention... When I read the first few para. of Code Talkers I couldn't put it down. Every page had something else on it that made me want to keep reading.

A reviewer

extremely good. has history and about natives of America.

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