I am featured along with my co-author Gail Dickinson on Linworth's site. You can see it at http://www.linworth.com/linworth_books/
Writing that book was so much fun. I read loads and loads of multicultural literature for young adults. We combined an emphasis on teaching the books in classrooms and libraries. There are some great books out there that are too good to miss. Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac was one of my favorites. Here's what we said about it:
CODE TALKER: A NOVEL ABOUT THE NAVAJO MARINES OF WORLD WAR TWO
by Joseph Bruchac
Dial, 2005
Ned Begay tells his grandchildren about his life, beginning with his enrollment at Rehobeth Mission School, a boarding school, when he was six and his desire to enlist in the United States Marine Corp during World War II. The faculty and staff of the mission school sought to fully acculturate Ben and his schoolmates, changing their names to English names, cutting their hair, selling their Turquoise jewelry and other belongings, and forbidding them to speak their language. When the children resisted, they were punished severely, yet, may of them like Ned found ways to cling to their native language. When Ned turned fifteen, he learned that the military has suddenly found use for Navajo men and their language. They began to recruit men between the ages of seventeen and thirty-five to participate in a secret effort to help win the war. Though Ben is too young to enlist, his parents allow him to do so when he is sixteen. The first group of twenty-nine Navajo Marines created an unbreakable code based on the Navajo language that was used to communicate secretly. Ben describes his contribution as a code talker in the fight against Japan.
After the description we added teaching activities.
