A friend of mine served in the Marines during World War II and later worked at a church mission among the Navajo at Shiprock, NM. He had known Code Talkers and shared with me the basics of their history: Because the Navajo language is so difficult for outsiders to learn, the United States military developed a code based on their language. This code could only be understood by the native Navajo speakers who created it. These Code Talkers were assigned to different units of Marines to transmit and interpret messages between units. This code was never broken, and everyone involved was sworn to secrecy.
I was excited when I saw that Joseph Bruchac had written a novel that focuses on this crucial, but little known, part of World War II. The tone of Code Talkers is more formal–that of an elder telling a story to teach, and it enhances the action and danger. The narrator starts the story long before World War II, when he was sent as a young child to the white people’s school. There the teachers tried to wipe out all traces of the children’s heritage by cutting their hair, trading their traditional clothes for uniforms, and forbidding the use of the Navajo language. No matter how hard the teachers try to eliminate his heritage, the narrator–now named Ned Begay–is determined to hold onto (in secret) and value his heritage.
Despite his treatment by white people, Ned and many of the young Navajo men are eager to volunteer to join the Marines when World War II breaks out. It is not until the end of basic training (in which the Navajo outperform their white peers) that Ned learns of the secret mission he is going to take part in. After learning the code, Ned is sent to the Pacific where he encounters some of the heaviest fighting of the war.
If you want to learn more about the Code Talkers, check out their official website and, of course, read Code Talkers.
In the not-so-distant future, the United States is at war with a group called the Alliance. This on-going war has changed everything. There are no longer shopping malls, supermarkets, or amusement parks. Obesity is no longer a problem because there is barely enough food to eat. Four girls find themselves roommates at the Country Manor School, where their parents sent them “for their own safety.”
Once inside, they begin to uncover secrets that could change anything. These four books in the Tomorrow Girls series by Eva Gray are packed with ever-present danger, narrow escapes, and determined characters. I liked that each book was narrated by a different one of the girls.
Behind the Gates (Scholastic 2011)
Louisa enjoys the new classes and challenges found at Country Manor School. She just wishes that her best friend (and now “sister”) Maddie would relax and enjoy it, too. She doesn’t know what to think of their roommates Evelyn (who sees a conspiracy theory around every corner and Rosie (who quickly becomes the leader of the popular girls). Soon though, the girls discover a deadly secret and must learn to depend on each other to survive as they flee Country Manor School to try to find their parents.
Run for Cover (Scholastic 2011)
Rosie isn’t sure she is ready to lead the girls as they flee through the woods, and she sure isn’t ready to share her secret with them. When the girls are joined in their escape by Drew, Ryan, and Alonso, things get even more complicated. Who can she trust as they find themselves in the middle of an Alliance prison instead of closer to Chicago?
With the Enemy (Scholastic 2011)
Evelyn is quick to think the worst of any situation, but now that one of their own has been captured, the rest of the group is starting to pay attention to her theories. Evelyn needs to come up with a plan to save her friend before it is too late and before the rest of them are captured, too. The closer they get to Chicago, the greater the danger grows, but they do make some unexpected allies and discover even more surprising secrets.
Set Me Free (Scholastic 2011)
Now that she knows the truth about her parents, Maddie is ready for action. But first, she and her friends must break codes and travel across the war-torn city to reunite with their parents. Once they join with the Resistance, they have one last dangerous mission to complete. Their experiences have given them courage and strength, and they will need every bit of it to defeat the Alliance one more time.
I started hearing the buzz about Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys from may friends in the Nerdy Book Club. Everyone raved about this powerful story set in a little known part of World War II that took place behind the Iron Curtain of the Soviet Union. Now that I’ve finally read it door myself, I see what all the fuss was about. This book gripped my heart and imagination and wouldn’t let go eve days after I’ve turned the last page.
Lina is one of the bravest characters I’ve ever met. When the Soviet police knock on her family’s door in the middle of the night, she forgets to change out of her nightgown but makes sure she packs her sketch pad and pencils. As she and her mother and brother are herded onto cattle cars for a frightening journey to an unknown destination, Lina experiences horror upon horror. Despite the lack of food, water and eve fresh air, Lina is determined to survive. She is also determined to get word of their location to her father, who was taken on another train of all men. They eventually arrive, unwelcome, to a hard labor camp in Siberia. Many do not survive. Through it all, Lina draws what she sees. Like her favorite artist, Edward Munch, she sees as much with her heart as she does with her eyes. She must hide her drawings because the Soviet soldiers who run the camp would kill her to keep the truth hidden.
I have read many stories from the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, but I had no idea a similar tragedy was happening in the countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. It has only been since these three nations have regained their independence that their people have been able to share their stories with the world. You will want to read this book and meet Lina for yourself.
Ever since I first flew in an airplane in the seventh grade, I knew I had to learn to fly myself. It took me until I graduated from college, but I did learn to “slip the surly bonds of earth” and earned my private pilots license. When I’m not able to fly myself, I love to read about the early women pilots–Amelia Earhart, Bessie Coleman, Jackie Cochran and many others. I admired those women who dared to defy convention to earn their wings. I am especially fascinated with the scores of women who flew through Sweetwater, Texas, as part of the Women Air Service Pilots, or WASP. Theses women risked everything to join an army that didn’t want them in order to fly.
Sherri L. Smith adds a compelling story to the WASP lore with her historical fiction novel Flygirl (Scholastic 2008). Ida Mae learned to fly in her daddy’s crop duster. After his death, flying brings her comfort, but social conditions in 1941 Louisiana keep her grounded on two strikes–she’s female and black. When the army forms the WASP to free up male pilots for the battle fronts of World War II, Ida Mae is determined to join, no matter the cost, even if she must use her light skin to pass for white.
As Ida chases her dreams across the country and the sky, she learns that it’s no so easy to deny who you are. In addition to the pressures of military training of the WASP, she must be careful not to let anyone discover her secret. She can’t share her love for her family or her worry about her older brother, missing in action somewhere in the Pacific islands. Family and friends back home don’t understand how she can turn her back on them. Her new friends, Patsy and Lily, don’t know who she really is. She is drawn to Instructor Jenkins, and he seems drawn to her, too, but what would he do if he found out the truth? Somehow, Ida must find a way to reconcile the two truths of her life. She is Ida Mae, the black girl from her family’s strawberry farm. She is also Jonesy, a courageous pilot in the WASP. Must she give up one entirely to have the other?
In the author’s note at the end, Smith shares that there is now evidence that the WASP ever accepted a black woman pilot, knowingly or unknowingly. The WASP did reject pilot Janet Harmon Bragg solely on the basis of race, but did accept two Asian pilots. We may never know all the barriers the women of the WASP broke, but I’m thankful for the doors they cracked open. Flygirl explores that courage with the additional complexity added by racial barriers as well as gender barriers.
A friend of mine served in the Marines during World War II and later worked at a church mission among the Navajo at Shiprock, NM. He had known Code Talkers and shared with me the basics of their history: Because the Navajo language is so difficult for outsiders to learn, the United States military developed a code based on their language. This code could only be understood by the native Navajo speakers who created it. These Code Talkers were assigned to different units of Marines to transmit and interpret messages between units. This code was never broken, and everyone involved was sworn to secrecy.
