He has authored more than 70 books for adults and children, including The First Strawberries, Keepers of the Earth (co-authored with Michael Caduto), Tell Me a Tale, When the Chenoo Howls (co-authored with his son, James), his autobiography Bowman's Store and such novels as Dawn Land, The Waters Between, Arrow Over the Door and The Heart of a Chief.

His poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review, Cricket and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine. He has edited a number of highly praised anthologies of contemporary poetry and fiction, including Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back, Breaking Silence (winner of an American Book Award) and Returning the Gift. With his wife, Carol, he is the founder and Co-Director of the Greenfield Review Literary Center and The Greenfield Review Press. His work as a educator includes eight years of directing a college program for Skidmore College inside a maximum security prison. in Comparative Literature from the Union Institute of Ohio.

in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse and a Ph.D. He, his younger sister Margaret, and his two grown sons, James and Jesse, continue to work extensively in projects involving the preservation of Abenaki culture, language and traditional Native skills, including performing traditional and contemporary Abenaki music with the Dawnland Singers. Although his American Indian heritage is only one part of an ethnic background that includes Slovak and English blood, those Native roots are the ones by which he has been most nourished. Much of his writing draws on that land and his Abenaki ancestry. 'Nonsensational and accurate, Bruchac's tale is quietly inspiring.Joseph Bruchac lives with his wife, Carol, in the Adirondack mountain foothills town of Greenfield Center, New York, in the same house where his maternal grandparents raised him. This deeply affecting novel honors all of those young men, like Ned, who dared to serve, and it honors the culture and language of the Navajo Indians. His grueling journey is eye-opening and inspiring.

Yet their story remained classified for more than twenty years.īut now Joseph Bruchac brings their stories to life for young adults through the riveting fictional tale of Ned Begay, a sixteen-year-old Navajo boy who becomes a code talker. They braved some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and with their code, they saved countless American lives. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. 'Readers who choose the book for the attraction of Navajo code talking and the heat of battle will come away with more than they ever expected to find.'- Booklist, starred review

Code talker joseph bruchac book review