Code word courage

Title:

Code word courage

Author:

Larson, Kirby author.

ISBN:

9780545840750

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

233 pages; 22 cm

Abstract:

In September 1944, eleven-year-old Billie lives with her great aunt, Doff, eagerly waiting for her older brother Leo to return from boot camp, and desperate to find the father that left when she was little; but Leo brings a friend with him, a Navajo named Denny, and the injured dog they have rescued and named Bear--and when the two young men go off to war, Bear becomes the thread that ties them all together, and helps Billie to find a true friend.

Subject:

Dogs -- Juvenile fiction.

Families -- Juvenile fiction.

Navajo Indians -- Juvenile fiction.

Navajo code talkers -- Juvenile fiction.

World War, 1939-1945 -- United States -- Juvenile fiction.

Friendship -- Juvenile fiction.

Dogs -- Fiction.

Family life -- Fiction.

Indians of North America -- California -- Fiction.

World War, 1939-1945 -- United States -- Fiction.

Friendship -- Fiction.

Dogs.

Families.

Friendship.

Navajo code talkers.

Navajo Indians.

United States -- History -- 1933-1945 -- Juvenile fiction.

United States.

Historical fiction.

Fiction.

History.

Juvenile works.

World War (1939-1945)

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Fiction. (OCoLC)fst01423787

Historical fiction. (OCoLC)fst01726640

History. (OCoLC)fst01411628

Juvenile works. (OCoLC)fst01411637

Available:*

Audience	Shelf Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Current Location
Kids/Juvenile	Fiction	Book	JFIC LARSON	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Newbery Honor-winning author Kirby Larson delivers a heartwarming story of friendship, love, and courage, and the incredible contributions of Navajo Code-Talkers during WWII.Billie has lived with her great-aunt ever since her mom passed away and her dad left. Billie's big brother, Leo, is about to leave, too, for the warfront. But first, she gets one more weekend with him at the ranch.Billie's surprised when Leo brings home a fellow Marine from boot camp, Denny. She has so much to ask Leo -- about losing her best friend and trying to find their father -- but Denny, who is Navajo, or Diné, comes with something special: a gorgeous, but injured, stray dog. As Billie cares for the dog, whom they name Bear, she and Bear grow deeply attached to each other.Soon enough, it's time for Leo and Denny, a Navajo Code Talker, to ship out. Billie does her part for the war effort, but she worries whether Leo and Denny will make it home, whether she'll find a new friend, and if her father will ever come back. Can Bear help Billie -- and Denny -- find what's most important?A powerful tale about unsung heroism on the WWII battlefield and the home front.

Author Notes

Kirby Larson is the acclaimed author of the 2007 Newbery Honor Book Hattie Big Sky ; its sequel, Hattie Ever After ; Duke ; Dash , winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction; Liberty ; Code Word Courage ; Audacity Jones to the Rescue ; its sequel, Audacity Jones Steals the Show ; and Dear America: The Fences Between Us . She has also cowritten the award-winning picture books Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival and Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine, and a Miracle . She lives in Washington state with her husband and Winston the Wonder Dog.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-6-A story of loneliness, loss, friendship, and identity set near the end of World War II. Readers meet 11-year-old Billie and see her struggle with the loss of her parents, her brother joining the Marines, and her best friend, Hazel, rejecting her. When her brother Leo comes to visit before shipping out, he brings his friend and fellow recruit, Denny, a member of the Navajo Nation. They also bring along Bear, an abandoned dog. Chapters from Denny and Bear offer readers different points of view. Denny's narrative focuses on his training as a Code Talker and his own struggle balancing his identity as a Navajo and a Marine. Denny experiences prejudice because of his ethnicity, as depicted in a scene in which he and Leo struggle to hitch a ride. Later, during a battle, Bear's spirit appears to Denny and guides him to safety; the book offers little context or information about Navajo spiritual beliefs and this scene may reinforce stereotypes about Native people. In an author's note, Larson describes a bit about her research and the interviews she conducted with several living Code Talkers. VERDICT Readers may want to seek out Joseph Bruchac's Code Talkers, or nonfiction accounts, such as Nathan Aaseng's Navajo Code Talkers and Andrea M. Page's Sioux Code Talkers of World War II.-Tamara -Saarinen, Pierce County Library, WA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

A friendless fifth-grade girl, a bullied Mexican American boy, and a WWII Navajo soldier all find much-needed courage in an abandoned, injured black dog named Bear. While home on leave, Denny finds Bear and asks his friend's little sister, Billie, to watch over its recovery, and the dog immediately fills a hole in Billie's heart. Chapters alternate between Billie and Denny but tell Tito's story as well. Fifth-grade boys constantly belittle Tito, who never fights back but finds a champion in Billie. Denny, as a Navajo Marine code talker in the Pacific Theater, sees vicious fighting but carries the strength of Bear's spirit with him in his darkest hour. With background research, including interviews with Navajo code talkers, and a knack for generating a heartwarming, genuine story, Larson seamlessly weaves the lives of the characters into the fabric of the 1944-45 home front setting. Kirby's fourth stand-alone book in the Dogs of World War II series is certain to find a place on the favorites shelf for middle-grade readers and their adults, whether parents, teachers, or librarians.--Petty, J. B. Copyright 2018 Booklist

Excerpts

The door swung open and Denny's knee jostled the desk as he hopped to attention. Eighteen sets of chair legs scraped the floor while an Anglo officer strode in, followed by two other Marines. Both Diné.The Anglo introduced himself in Navajo. Not fluent Navajo, but good enough to get by at the trading post. "Take a seat, gentlemen," Sergeant Johnston ordered.They did as instructed.The Anglo turned to one of the Diné officers. "Sergeant Manuelito, would you please get the door?"Manuelito pulled a set of keys from his pocket and efficiently, purposefully, locked the classroom. The tumbler thunked like an animal trap.Denny shot a glance over at Jesse, whose forehead wrinkled imperceptibly.Sergeant Johnston picked up a pointer and tapped at the list of words on the blackboard."Begay, what's this?" The pointer landed on ga-gih ."Crow," Denny answered."That's what it meant yesterday. Today, it means patrol plane." The pointer kept tapping. Tas-chizzie , swallow, was a torpedo plane. Atsah , eagle, a transport plane.As the sergeant went down the list, Denny's heart beat faster. It was a code. The Navajo language was the basis of a code. That's why he was here. He glanced around the room. That's why they were all here.Sergeant Johnston cleared his throat. "From this moment on, nothing that you do or hear in this room leaves this room. Under penalty of imprisonment. Nothing." He stared down the rows of Marines. "Do I make myself clear?"Despite the hodgepodge of feelings he was experiencing -? bewilderment, curiosity, fear -- Denny had been in the Marines long enough to know there was only one possible response to the sergeant's question. At the top of his lungs, he answered with the rest of the men: "Yes, sir!" Excerpted from Code Word Courage by Kirby Larson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.