87.
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Title: Code Talker
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 231
Genre: YA, ALA Best Book for Young Readers
Acquisition: Teaching text for 8th grade
Date Completed: November 21, 2010
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

In the early days of World War II the American military is starving for a way to protect transmitted intelligence - an Unbreakable Code. One man, the son of a trader who sells goods to Native Americans, provides the answer the military is looking for, and before long Marines are found on Navajo reservation to find native speakers. As a language with no alphabet, and a language almost impossible to master unless one learns it from birth, the Navajo tongue provides a code that finally defeats Japanese intelligence. Once their worth is proven, the Code Talkers are in high demand, and their importance in WWII cannot be exaggerated.

In Code Talker, Joseph Bruchac tackles a story that is suppressed for the government for over three decades. Having produced a treasured government secret, the Navajos who develop the Unbreakable Code are forbidden to share their important role in the war, and for years remain unrecognized by anyone other than their fellow Marines.

Ned Begay is one such Marine. Having attended missionary schools from a young age, he is an ideal candidate for the role the Marines seek to fill, and once he is sixteen he convinces his family to allow him to lie about his age and join the military. Once shamed by bilagaanaa for his culture, Ned finds that that very culture is what allows him to serve his homeland.

Bruchac's narrative is haunting; Ned's quiet grade highlights both the horrors of war and the horrors of racism in the land he helps to protect without delving into alienating anger. His dignity moves the reader, and allows anyone with a soul and a conscience to relate to Ned, regardless of race or culture.

With no intimate knowledge of the cultural and historical events, I was quickly drawn in to Ned's story, and found myself mesmerized by his voice and moved by his experiences. I highly recommend this book to all readers.