Saving the best for last is Nizhóní. She is a monsterslayer and with that comes some powers of her own. She wants nothing more than to be the hero and/or famous. Whether that be in a basketball game, on YouTube or anything else. None of that seems to end well for her, though. She was truly a good kid, but she had struggles to work through. Anger has been a struggle for her. Her women seemingly left their family when she was a toddler. Through this whole journey she learns what being a hero truly is. The Power of Friendship: As the song states, Nizhoni needs to find out that she is not alone to win against monsters. I loved learning more about the legends of the Navajo culture and if more books are released in this series, I would absolutely read them. Right now, she was playing in a basketball game on the team of the Isotopes against the Beavers. However, she noticed one of the spectators was wearing a suit as opposed to everyone else, so Nizhoni suspected him to be a monster as they often disguised themselves as humans, she'd seen it twice before. Coach told Nizhoni to focus on her, she was a little short probably due to being a descendant of the Hopi tribe. A timeout was called with five seconds of the game left, confident Nizhoni offered to take the last shot when Davery Descheny, her best and only friend since preschool, passes her the ball. As no one else volunteered, Coach reluctantly allowed it. Ecocidal Antagonist: Mr. Charles is a Corrupt Corporate Executive whose oil and gas company destroys the environment and is a target of many protests. In addition, he turns out to be a literal man-eating monster who kidnaps gifted children to work for him.

What a fun adventure! Great cast of characters, each with her/his own individual and endearing traits (uh, excluding Mr. Charles and his band of monsters, of course - not endearing at all. ug. ;) ). I read Race to the Sun with my 12-year-old daughter and we had a great time with it. My daughter especially liked the colorful characters, exciting story line, and entertaining dialogue. We laughed and acted out scenes from the book, complete with Nizhoni facial expressions and Mr. Yazzie hand signals (do horned toads even have hands?). Lots of action, fun-filled witty dialogue and clever exchanges, scary and perilous challenges, loads of Navajo mythology, and a large portion of personal growth on the part of Nizhoni. We can both highly recommend this wonderful adventure to kids and adults alike! Highly recommended for middle grade readers and their parents, teachers, and anyone else who appreciates seeing well-written, engrossing stories with multicultural perspectives end up in the hands of excited readers! Frybread is not traditional, but there’s no shame in it. Your ancestors created food out of nothing, like magic.Parents in Distress: Nizhoni and Mac need to save their dad from Mr. Charles and accidentaly end up save their mom from Lost and Found. Timeless themes such as the importance of family and respect for the land resonate in this funny, fast-paced, and exciting quest adventure set in the American Southwest. Lately, seventh grader Nizhoni Begay has been able to detect monsters, like that man in the fancy suit who was in the bleachers at her basketball game. Turns out he's Mr. Charles, her dad's new boss at the oil and gas company, and he's alarmingly interested in Nizhoni and her brother, Mac, their Navajo heritage, and the legend of the Hero Twins. Nizhoni knows he's a threat, but her father won't believe her. Maybe she didn't become a hero on the basketball court, but she certainly proved herself in trials against nefarious nature and by defeating nasty bullies and monsters alike. However, it was beautiful to watch her realize she was already a hero for just being her brave, funny, and caring self.

Kids books should be political. In Race To the Sun, the politics is in a monster’s ability to shapeshift into a rich white capitalist oil tycoon. Along the way, the children learn lessons about bravery, sacrifice, loyalty, and the importance of their roots and their connection to their people’s past. Should the total distance of 160 km be daunting to some, consider entering a Team of two Relay and ride only half the distance to have the full experience.The Smart Guy: Nizhoni's best friend Davery. He loves reading (and his father is a librarian), knows a lot about various topics, is very Internet-savvy and his magical weapon is a book of knowledge. The quest that Nizhoni, Mac, and Davery set out on is a great adventure tale. They were all unique characters with their own personalities and motivations. They were genuinely funny too. I loved that the author made each character bring something to their team. For me, I love reading character driven narratives where they are given the chance to change and develop throughout the book. Roanhorse achieves this in a very natural way. The kids know that what they are doing is bigger than themselves. They give it their all and stand up for what they believe in. Nizhoni’s change to see what is important was really heartwarming. Beyond this, it was a beautiful depiction of family and community. Meet Nizhoni Begay. (Her first name is pronounced Ni-jho-knee. It means ‘beauty.’) In many ways, she’s a typical New Mexico seventh grader. She just wants to be good at something, to get some respect at school. Unfortunately, nothing works. Her bid for internet fame is a fail. Her chance to become a sports superstar ends with a basketball in the face. She can barely manage to hang on to her one good friend Davery, who runs the lunchtime Ancestor Club in the library, and try to protect her artsy younger brother Mac from getting beat up by school bullies. When her dad disappears the next day, he leaves a message that sends Nizhoni, her brother Mac, and her best friend Davery on a rescue mission that can only be accomplished with the help of the Diné Holy People. The kids must go through a series of trials fraught with killer nature to reach the House of the Sun. Can Nizhoni defeat Mr. Charles's monsters and save her father?

Only the Worthy May Pass: Because so many people would like to get help from the Sun, they have to get through four trials just to see him. I had a blast listening to the audiobook for this. The characters are fun and read as the ages they are. Sometime middle grade characters can seem too mature or too immature, but Nizhoni, her bother, and her friend seemed to fit actual middle schoolers well. They worry about popularity and in hind-sight, relatively small things but are vastly important at that age.

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Experience the true spirit of Mzanzi when you are greeted by the merry faces of eager children and local communities cheering you along when you race by. The other thing that bothers me is how Roanhorse didn't change the Riordan-style portrayal of Gods. The way Riordan writes Gods doesn't always show them in a respectful or favorable light. They are usually shown to be ridiculous, petty, goofy, etc. That isn't a big problem when we're talking about ancient Gods. The problem here is that the Diné are a living people and these stories are just as sacred and holy as all other religious stories. That puts pressure on the shoulders of the author to find the balance between respectful truth and funny adventure story. In the end, Roanhorse struggles to find that balance. Her characters are underdeveloped, her plot is thin, and time after time she chooses snark over compassion. Nizhoni wakes up on the ground with Mr. Charles standing over her. He taunts the girl as a warm sensation builds up in her body. He says she is alone and he will soon have Mac working for him in Oklahoma, like the others with ancestral powers he has collected over the years. He tells Nizhoni she is alone but she says he is wrong, she has her friend, family, guardians, heralds, and ancestors on her side. Mr. Charles keeps taunting her until she mentions she has the lightning on her side and blasts him with a bolt, blowing him up.