WARNING! YOU MAY BE SURPRISED ON HOW WELL I HAVE TYPED THIS. 

1. WARNING!YOU MAY BE SURPRISED ON HOW WELL I HAVE TYPED THIS.

2. CODE TALKER Bruchac, Joseph. Code Talker. New York: Berkeley: Penguin Group, 2006.

3. Protaganist  Kii Yazhi, went off to boarding school at the age of 6. There, a white man renamed him. His new name was Ned Begay. Before going off to war, he went to code school, where he learned the codes. They traveled to Camp Elliott and boarded a ship that was off to Honolulu, Hawaii. When they got to Hawaii, they boarded another ship that took them off to Cape Toro kina, where he fought his first battle. Many battles carried on from there. When the war was over, he returned to Arizona to finish High School, but nobody respected him. This book took place in Arizona on the Indian reserve and on the battlefields during World War II in Japan.

4. Summary “Code Talker” begins with a young Navajo boy and his journey to a United States government led school. There he must get his cultural long hair shaved. Also, he must learn English and never use his sacred Navajo language. His Navajo clothes are taken from him and he is a given military style school uniform. At the school they assign each of the Native Americans with new Americanized names. He became Ned Begay. Him and his Native American peers are constantly being devalued for being Native Americans and are treated as being unintelligent compared to white children. He though excels in his classes and goes to a Native American high school. During this time the United States becomes involved in World War II. At first Native Americans were not allowed to become soldiers. But the government later feels the need not only for Native Americans in general but for Navajos especially. Ned is sixteen and he must be eighteen to join the military. But, since he was born on a reservation there is no way of validating his age. So, he goes to parents to see if they will allow him but they deny it, though they said that if the war continues next year he may. He waits a year and his parents let him enlist. Ned later finds that Navajos are needed to create and use a code based on their own language, their sacred language that not too long ago the Navajos were strongly discourage from using. Since the Navajo language is very hard to understand it became a perfect code.

5. Summary (continued) Ned may not speak of his and the other Navajos’ job as code talkers and are remained top secret. He and the other Navajos are put in charge of radio communication in the field. He goes to many different islands in the Pacific, including Iwo Jima. After the war he is praised by people in the big cities while he is in his U.S. Marine uniform, but when he goes back to his home and sits in a bar he is thrown out for being “Indian”. Ned Begay finds that though Navajos have played a major part in the war they are treated just as badly as they did before it. The Navajos would not be awarded or even openly discussed for their efforts during the war until years later. Ned may not speak of his and the other Navajos’ job as code talkers and are remained top secret. He and the other Navajos are put in charge of radio communication in the field. He goes to many different islands in the Pacific, including Iwo Jima. After the war he is praised by people in the big cities while he is in his U.S. Marine uniform, but when he goes back to his home and sits in a bar he is thrown out for being “Indian”. Ned Begay finds that though Navajos have played a major part in the war they are treated just as badly as they did before it. The Navajos would not be awarded or even openly discussed for their efforts during the war until years later.

6. Glossary • Artillery-Mounted projectile-firing guns or missile launchers, mobile or stationary, light or heavy, as distinguished from small arms. • Barracks-A building or group of buildings used to house military personnel. • Eniwetok-(Placename) an atoll in the W Pacific Ocean, in the NW Marshall Islands: taken by the US from Japan in 1944; became a naval base and later a testing ground for atomic weapons • Foxhole-A hole in the ground used as a shelter against enemy fire or as a firing point. • Garrison-The troops stationed in a fortress or town to defend it. • Latrine-A toilet, esp. a communal one in a camp or barracks. • Maneuvers-A movement or series of moves requiring skill and care. • Regiments-a unit of ground forces, consisting of two or more battalions or battle groups, a headquarters unit, and certain supporting units. • Wisecrack-a smart or facetious remark.

7. Review I would rate this book five stars because it is very interesting and it keeps you reading. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning new things about history in a very action packed story.