Book Description Review “A breathtaking quest filled with heart and pure magic. Readers will fall in love with monsters layer Nizhoni Begay. I know I did.”―J.C. Cervantes, author of the New York Times best-selling STORM RUNNER Read more About the Author Rebecca Roanhorse (www.RebeccaRoanhorse.com) is a black/indigenous (Ohkay Owingeh) writer of speculative fiction, including two adult books in the Sixth World series, Trail of Lightning and Storm of Locusts, and a Nebula and Hugo-winning short story, “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience.” Race to the Sun is her middle grade debut. Rebecca, a graduate of Yale, is a lawyer by day who specializes in federal Indian and tribal law. She lives in Northern New Mexico with her Navajo husband and their daughter. For more information, go to www.RebeccaRoanhorse.com or follow her on Twitter @RoanhorseBex. Read more Customers Review: I haven’t read it myself, but when I donated it to our local Middle School, the librarian was VERY excited, having read the reviews. EVERYONE please remember you local schools and public libraries when you run across a good book! and don’t forget an inscription at the front to memorialize a hero or loved one.
Really god book; you don’t have to know Native American culture to enjoy and appreciate the story. The author does a good job of adding context. It’s meant for Young Adults and does have some very adolescent struggles and commentary but if you enjoyed Percy Jackson you’ll enjoy this book.
Fantastic book! Well written. Fluid and such a fun interesting storyline! Full of Sarcastic humor! I love it.
Loved this book! This book pulled me in to a story that I just couldn’t put down.
My daughter and I read it together and loved it. If you like Percy Jackson then this book is for you. Definitely going to buy more from this author.
Excellent work. I absolutely loved this story. This is another story of gods and demigods in the Rick Riordan Presents universe, but written by Rebecca Roanhorse, who covers the Navajo gods.I love reading stories about the Navajo gods. This is the second book I’ve read this year that incorporates present day with the stories of the ancient Navajo gods. When I was a kid, the books I read about our Native Americans were written by…not Navajo people. I think it is better to learn about their ways and their stories from them. That is why diverse books and diverse authors are so important.Nizhoni is a young 12 year old girl of Navajo descent that is just trying to make her mark in the world. Like most kids, she wants to be seen as popular or as a hero. She sucks at most things, especially basketball, but she wants the chance at the winning shot with just 5 seconds left on the clock, only to become distracted by a monster in the crowd. So she takes a basketball to the nose and loses the game.Her brother, Marcus (aka Mac), is only 10 months younger than her and a gifted artist. They live with their father, who is doing his best to provide for his children after their mom ran out. He is being offered a new job in a different state and the CEO of the company has decided to pay them a visit. Ends up the new boss, Mr. Charles, is the monster Nizhoni saw in the crowd.That is Nizhoni’s special power. She can see monsters. She soon discovers that her little brother has powers of his own. The two together are part of an ancient line. She and her brother are the reincarnation of the Navajo twins of legend that were monsterslayers. [In mythology, the twins were called the slayer of alien gods.]When Mr. Charles takes the family out to dinner (with Nizhoni staying behind, because she tried to attack Mr. Charles (the monster) and her dad thought she was nuts, so he made her stay at home), she meets her stuffed horned toad, Mr. Yazzie. I say “meets” because Mr. Yazzie comes to life to set her on her path to help save the world from a much bigger problem.Mr. Charles is trying to free the monsters that her ancestors imprisoned. He needs Mac to help him. That is why he’s really there. Mr. Charles kidnaps Nizhoni and Mac’s dad, and attempts to steal them away, too. But the kids are able to run away with the help of Nizhoni’s friend Davery (who is a genius). They are off to look for the Spider Woman so she can give them a map to get to the Glittering World, so that they can find the Sun god to ask for special weapons to defeat Mr. Charles before he unleashes the monsters. They only have 4 days and 4 trials to survive in order to get the weapons they need (if they get there).This story stays true to the Rick Riordan Presents demigod universe. Kids (and kids at heart) will learn about the history of the Navajo people by learning about their mythology, while on a wild heroic ride to save the world.This was such a fun ride, I hope we are able to do this again, because I want to know more about the Navajo gods and their mythology!
Race to the Sun is my third book from Rick Riordan Presents and I can now say that it is an imprint that I completely trust. And on top that, I read three of Roanhorse’s books this year and they were all stellar. Combine the two and you’ve got the makings of a very good book!Nizhoni (Z) Begay is a Native American young woman who sticks out a bit, but not always in a good way. Like the time she called for the last shot in the basketball game… but instead of being the hero, she’s distracted by a monster in the stands (who only she can see) and takes a pass off the nose. The other team took her face-rebound and took it to the other end of the court for the win. Pretty soon Nizhoni, her good friend Davery, and Z’s brother Mac figure what out what the monster’s goals are and how they’re connected to her family.With the help of small horned toad, Nizhoni is able to truly see the power of her gifts. Oh, and those of her brother… They are the Hero Twins of Navajo legend. And Davery? He’s just super duper smart. The three are instructed to go off on a quest to find ancient artifacts they can trade for the weapons that will help them defeat their foes.The first three chapters of this book got me so into this story. Nizhoni’s character is developed so quickly with the story of the basketball game and then when the magic drops in the subsequent chapters, the book just takes off. Roanhorse does such a great job blending the 20th century teens with the Navajo mythology and the great setting of Albuquerque and its surroundings. I was taken in immediately… great flying birds, a lightning sword, and plenty of action.I would highly recommend this book to middle-grade readers and up. The themes of family loyalty, racism, and the power of myth. I will definitely continue to read Riordan’s imprint which is full of quality YA own-voices fantasy.5 out of 5 stars
This is my third book by Rebecca Roanhorse and I thoroughly enjoyed it! It is targeted for a younger age group than her books in the 6th World series, but her wonderful storytelling style comes through and you end up learning a lot about the mythology of the Dine people along the way. The story moves along at a brisk pace and never gets boring. The story is narrated by Nizhoni Begay, a seventh-grade girl who discovers who she really is as she encounters trial after trial. You can see how much she has matured by the end, by going back to the beginning and see how she reacted to her trials at the beginning. She is accompanied by her brother and her best friend during most of the book and it all leads to a very satisfying ending. I absolutely love Rebecca Roanhorse’s storytelling style and will be waiting anxiously for more of her work. Special thanks to #Netgalley for the ARC so I could read this now! There is still some editing and formatting that needs to be done for the kindle version, but it didn’t really take away from my enjoyment of the book. |
19 reviews