Title: Code Talker
Author: Joseph Bruchac
Major Themes: Native Americans, Navajo, Codes, Pacific Ocean, World War II
Synopsis: The Navajo Indians performed a vital role in the war with Japan in the Pacific by using the language they had been forbidden to speak while in school.
Some time before I was ten years old, I remember my dad, who loved learning about history and passed that love along to me, telling me how, during World War II, the Navajo Indians were used to transmit information over the radio because their language was so difficult to learn that anyone who was not a native could not understand it. I don’t remember reading anything about it since then, but a few years ago, I found a book titled Code Talker on a Sonlight Curriculum clearance sale. I knew that was a book I wanted to read, but fitting it in with everything else I want to read? That didn’t happen for a long time! When it was returned after being borrowed from our library recently, however, and then two of my older sons listened to the audiobook, I decided it was time to read it aloud.
Publisher’s description:
Although the mission school bans all that is Navajo, Ned secretly clings to his native language and culture. Proudly joining the U.S. Marines in 1943, he becomes a top-secret Navajo Code Talker. During bloody battles for Japanese islands, Ned and his brave band of code-talking brothers save thousands of lives using Navajo encryption the enemy never cracks.
My thoughts:
Code Talker is an amazing story. There were a number of scenes that stood out to me. First was Ned’s introduction to the mission school. We were all upset at the way the students were treated. They were stripped of everything from home, from their clothes and jewelry to their names, their hair, and their language—and their jewelry was stolen by the school officials. Despite such treatment, we were amazed at how loyal they were to the United States when war began.
It was amazing to read about how the Navajo code was developed. They assigned words from their language to stand for many different words that were needed in order to transmit messages in the war, but they never wrote anything down! We did not like the chapters that talked about the battles and the Code Talkers’ role, but it was a good way to learn what the war in the Pacific was like. I would say that this book is a must-read for any study of World War II.
WARNING: Chapter 14: Unburied bodies. Chapter 15: How the heck. Chapter 16: So dang glad. Chapter 17: Heck. Chapter 18: Finding someone’s body. Chapter 19: Man tries to kill another, what the hell. Chapter 20: People killing themselves. Chapter 21: Darn fine place, battle, finding a man dead. Chapter 22: Man injured. Chapter 23: Kamikaze pilots, torture of prisoners, so many darn chiefs. Chapter 24: Ghost shirt, bullet holes. Chapter 25: I’ll be danged, the damned island. Chapter 26: Battle.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 12 – 15
Reading Independently—Ages 12 – 15, 15 and Above, Adults
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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