Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code

May 1, 2018

Gr 2-5-Bruchac has penned a moving portrait of Chester Nez, a Navajo code talker who survived the residential school system and World War II. The narrative opens in 1929, with an eight-year-old Betoli being forced into a missionary's truck and given the name Chester. Even though he was told to only speak English in order to "live in the white man's world," he decided to never forget his language and his people. Once he graduated, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and was placed in platoon number 382, the group who created the only unbreakable code during the Second World War. Told in chronological segments (e.g., "December 1941: Month of Crusted Snow"), the work explores how closely the trauma of the residential school system and of fighting in war resemble each other. Amini-Holmes's illustrations are visceral in their depiction of pain; however, these moments are offset by more joyful scenes of Nez with family and his fellow code talkers and of him living "the Right Way." ("But what he felt best about...able to live the Right Way as a Navajo, holding on to his language and traditions despite being told in school to give up his culture.") Back matter includes an author's note and a portion of the Navajo code. VERDICT A can't-miss picture book biography.-Amanda C. Buschmann, Carroll Elementary School, Houston

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 7, 2018
Bruchac begins this powerful story of Chester Nez (born Betoli) as he is taken by missionaries from the Navajo reservation to boarding school: “Chester knew he might need to live in the white man’s world one day. In that world speaking English was essential, so he worked hard and did well.” In 1942, Marine Corps recruiters seek speakers of English and Navajo; Bruchac clearly explains the need for a code that could not be broken by the Japanese, while lightly underscoring the irony of Chester’s circumstances: “Suddenly the language he had been told to forget was important.” Bruchac movingly draws a parallel between the trauma of indigenous boarding schools and war. Amini-Holmes’s paintings capture the nightmarish atmosphere of both: at school, Nez’s terror is embodied by red-eyed crows that fly away with locks of his sheared hair, while in his postwar dreams, birds morph into sharks resembling dive bombers. Back matter explores the recognition that code talkers received years after their service, and includes a portion of the Navajo code. Ages 7–9.

April 1, 2018
Grades 2-5 Bruchac distills his extensive knowledge about the Navajo code talkers in this complex biography for young readers. When Betoli is taken to boarding school at the age of eight, his name is changed to Chester, his head shaved, and his language forbidden. Despite his own despair, Chester stays strong and comforts other children when nightmares plague them. This is a story of forced adaptation: Chester learns English and Christian prayers in order to survive, while maintaining his Navajo identity. It is a story of conflict: Chester lends his skills to the very power that fought his people. His work with the U.S. military, developing the code that results in the enemy's defeat, brings him both trauma and honor. The tragic irony of Chester's life may be lost on young readers, but older ones may ask salient questions about a society that forbade Navajo ways until they were useful. Amini-Holmes' striking illustrations bring these contrasts to life, merging both of Chester's lives while keeping them distinctly separate. An author's note adds detail and context.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
Young Chester Nez was sent to a missionary boarding school that taught English, but he ignored his teachers by retaining his native Navajo language and culture. As a soldier in World War II, Chester became one of the original Navajo code talkers, helping to defeat the Japanese. Muted illustrations enhance the informative biography. A portion of the Navajo code is appended. Timeline.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from March 1, 2018
For young readers, a nuanced, compassionate biography of a Navajo Code Talker.Like many Native American children, Betoli, a Navajo boy, was taken from his family to a missionary boarding school, where he was forbidden to speak Navajo and forced to change his name to Chester. He endured the painful process of having his long hair shaved, forlornly depicted in a stark image in which black crows with outspread wings carry away the strips of his hair. Summers spent at home, immersed once again in the love, language, and culture of his people, gave him the strength to carry on. As he got older, Chester adapted as best he could to the forced assimilation. He joined the military during World War II and became one of the first Code Talkers, who used their own language to undermine the Japanese, efforts that helped to end the war. Bruchac's story dares to go beyond the war in highlighting the postwar trauma that Chester experienced, demonstrated in a beautiful yet haunting illustration that symbolically captures his pain. This tale of a real-life Code Talker humanizes the main character by giving readers the whole picture of his connectedness to home and family, which is reinforced in Amini-Holmes' textured paintings, which resonate on an almost ethereal level.A perfect, well-rounded historical story that will engage readers of all ages. (author's note, partial code key, timeline) (Picture book/biography. 6-10)

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