Happy Holidays Everyone!
As you are reading this, I am preparing for my holiday trip to London. As you may or may not know, November is Native American Heritage Month. I deeply regret that I didn’t read this book earlier but I’m glad I can take this off my chest. In my opinion, Native American Month should be everyday and we must be aware of the stolen country we live in today.
Navajo is a group of Native American group in the United States. Their reservation takes over portions of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, where several Navajo people live. Today, I will be sharing Healer of the Water Monster by author Brian Young which shares the story of a young Navajo boy and his trip to the reservation.
Nathan, an 11-year-old Navajo boy from Phoenix Arizona doesn’t mind going to the Navajo reservation without any wifi. The only thing that matters to him is that he gets to spend time with his Nali (Paternal Grandmother). His parents are divorced, and he has been having some conflict with his father after he moved on and is in a relationship which makes Nathan feel left out. But that doesn’t matter anymore, the only thing Nathan is focused on is enjoying his time away from home and in New Mexico with Nali. Nathan assumes that it will be a quiet calming trip, but things turn around when his Uncle Jet, who has been hopping jobs after getting fired comes back and is haunted by a scary voice of an Ash Being which affects his uncle mentally. The strange part is that Nathan can enter the world of Navajo cosmology and beings. What is the secret of water monsters?What will happen to Nathan? Will his Uncle Jet get better? Will Nathan succeed in helping his uncle who is struggling from mental health?What do these beings represent? It is the story that highlights the power of healing.
If you enjoyed the book Tamarind and the Star of Ishta, Aru Shah and the End of Time or any fictional book, you will enjoy this book as much as I did.