Healer of the Water Monster Pdf Summary Reviews By Brian Young

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Healer of the Water Monster Pdf Summary

When Nathan goes to visit his grandma, Nali, at her mobile summer home on the Navajo reservation, he knows he’s in for a pretty uneventful summer. Still, he loves spending time with Nali, and with his uncle Jet—though it’s clear when Jet arrives that he brings his problems with him.

One night, while lost in the nearby desert, Nathan finds something extraordinary. A Holy Being from the Navajo Creation Story—a Water Monster—in need of help.

Now Nathan must summon all his courage to save his new friend. With the help of other Navajo Holy Beings, Nathan is determined to save the Water Monster, and to help Uncle Jet heal from his own pain.

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Healer of the Water Monster Review

J. Kuntze

3.0 out of 5 stars I wish I loved it more…
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2022

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I wish I loved this book more. Sometimes, when I have high expectations or ideas about a story and they don’t end up realized, I am left with a kind of “meh” feeling.

I love that this book meshes traditional Navajo stories and ideas with the modern day realities of a Navajo boy. I love that all of the characters have at least a basic knowledge of their ancestral language. I love that Navajo kids might see themselves represented in this book, and that kids of other cultures and races will also see a Navajo boy, because representation matters.

There was a lot going on in this story — dealing with bullies, divorce and remarriage, substance abuse, climate change and environmental pollution — and yet, in many places, the story dragged. Strangely, there were also places where plot lines or characters were missing information: for example, Jet Stone Boy suddenly appears as Nathan’s guide, but you have to read further to infer that Jet Stone Boy is one of the Warrior Twins, along with another character now known as Jet Stone Girl. These tiny details felt jarring to this adult reader, and interrupted the flow of the story. For much of the first half, I had to really resist the urge to put down the book altogether, as it just seemed so slow-going.

I appreciate all the notes at the end of the book, and it reminded me how much careful thought went into the crafting of this story. It just seemed that perhaps all of the weight of getting things just right was reflected in the heavy feeling of reading it.

Busy Guy in Peachtree City

5.0 out of 5 stars Weaves Traditional knowledge with Current Affairs
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2021

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The author begins with a vignette from the Diné Emergence from the Third World – a water world – to this, the Fourth World. He then creates an adventure in which a Diné boy meets various Holy People, overcomes challenges, and performs a great deed. In this adventure, the boy recapitulates elements of an important Navajo legend, “The Hero Twins,” one of whom is known as “Monster Slayer.” In this book, however, the hero is asked to be a “Monster Saver.”
The story captures important traditional knowledge and weaves it into contemporary events and crises, including dealing with waste from decades of uranium mining on the Reservation, the effect of genetically-modified corn on the sacred corn pollen, and the effect of the current long-term drought in the American Southwest. These and other problems facing the Diné today are well thought-out and well presented.
This book is a repository of knowledge as well as a stimulant to understanding and inquiry among youth of all nations – and all ages.

About Brian Young Author Of Healer of the Water Monster pdf Book

Brian Young Author Of Healer of the Water Monster pdf Book, filmmaker, He is a graduate of both Yale University with a Bachelor’s in Film Studies and Columbia University with a Master’s in Creative Writing Fiction. An enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, he grew up on the Navajo Reservation but now currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. As an undergraduate, Brian won a fellowship with the prestigious Sundance Ford Foundation with one of his feature length scripts. He has worked on several short films including Tsídii Nááts’íílid – Rainbow Bird and A Conversation on Race with Native Americans for the short documentary series produced by the New York Times. He was a participant of the 6th Annual Native American TV Writer’s Lab with the Native American Media Alliance, where he learned to write Television Scripts.