Native Americans

Code Talker

Posted on September 21, 2013 by webmaster

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Code Talker
by Joseph Bruchac

Ned Begay is transplanted from his family’s home at the age of six, and sent to a boarding school to learn English and the American way of life. There he is given a new name and clothes and forbidden to speak his native language Navajo. When he is 16, he is recruited to join the Marines, and shortly afterwards he enlists and is sent to boot camp.

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He discovers that his Navajo language, which he has been using only in secret for years, is the secret weapon that the U.S. is using in their war against the Japanese. As a Navajo code talker, Ned is able to use his native language to save countless American lives, and his experiences in the Pacific – from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima to Okinawa -change him forever.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
910	Middle School	240	Historical Fiction	2005	9780439891004

Absolutely True Diary

Posted on September 20, 2013 by webmaster

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie

Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jumpshot, spends his time lamenting life on the “poor-ass” Spokane Indian reservation, drawing cartoons (which accompany, and often provide more insight than, the narrative), and, along with his aptly named pal Rowdy, laughing those laughs over anything and nothing that affix best friends so intricately together.

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When a teacher pleads with Arnold to want more, to escape the hopelessness of the rez, Arnold switches to a rich white school and immediately becomes as much an outcast in his own community as he is a curiosity in his new one. He weathers the typical teenage indignations and triumphs like a champ but soon faces far more trying ordeals as his home life begins to crumble and decay amidst the suffocating mire of alcoholism on the reservation.

Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
600L	Middle School	288	Autobiography	2009	0316013692

Blood on the River

Posted on September 16, 2013 by webmaster

Blood on the River

by Eliza Carbone

After attempting to steal back a necklace that belonged to his deceased mother, Samuel Collier is sent to an orphanage run by Reverend Hunt. The 11-year-old joins him on a journey to the New World, serving as a page to Captain John Smith.

Samuel’s account of the voyage to Virginia, political intrigues among the settlers, and the harrowing first winter of the James Town settlement brings to life figures like Smith, Powhatan, and Pocahontas.

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Lexile Level	Content Rating	Number of Pages	Genre	Date Published	ISBN Number
820L	Middle School	256	Historical Fiction	2006	0670060607