Healer of the Water Monster

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Healer of the Water Monster felt more like an absorption than a read. Young’s details awakened the narrative so much that I felt surrounded by images and beauty and the very beginning of new understandings. I laughed. I cried. I finished with dried tears on my face. 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. Follows Nathan, a Navajo boy who stays with his Nani (grandmother) for the summer while his dad goes to Vegas with his new girlfriend and his mum is documenting pipeline protests. When Nathan meets a Water Monster, a Holy Being, he seeks Nathan's help... and it'll be up to Nathan to save his new friend.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, Heartdrum, and HarperCollins Children’s publishers for an advanced e-ARC such that I could share my honest opinions. 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 support Uncle Jet in healing from his own pain. Talk with students about Nathan’s experience living without running water at Nali’s. Get them thinking about how much water they use every day and how they get it. Have them compare their experience to what they learn about residents on the Navajo reservation who haul water either from watering points or from unregulated water sources, such as wells and springs.Far out!!! I absolutely adored this book. It had everything, and in perfect balance. Nathan was at the exact right spot between relatable and aspirational. I loved his relationship with Nali, and am so grateful to Brian Young for writing an absolutely radical relationship between Nathan and his uncle Jet. It blew my mind, first of all that Jet's PTSD and alcoholism was treated with such compassion. Jet did some things that would make him the villain in a lot of books, but this book never let the reader see Jet as the monster. I was also amazed to see the discussion about traditional healing and ceremonies being complementary to medical establishment help. I'm so happy that kids reading this will get a story that validates tradition without negating some of the ways the medical establishment can still be necessary, and that they will be given a much more compassionate framework for viewing their loved ones who are struggling and acting out. So many kids need all of those special touches Young gave this story. I am delighted to recommend Brian Young’s Healer of the Water Monster. Below I will share some of the reasons why I think you should have this book on your school library shelf, and in your classroom library, and in your home library. If there’s a Little Free Library in your neighborhood, get one for it, too! And if you’re on a road trip, get a copy of the audio version. It is terrific! To start, let’s look at the book description: Nathan is the every day hero I hope all young people aspire to be: kind, brave, insightful. He is both bound by love and by duty to that love. He is both protector and needs to be protected. He both teaches and learns. He is at once empathic and scientific. Secondary characters, both human and from Navajo traditional tales, are sharp, at times riotously funny, and compassionate. The metaphors are stunningly beautiful and heartbreaking.

What other books do you see Healer of the Water Monster as being in conversation with? And do you have any recommendations for published or forthcoming books, especially kidlit? For other books that Healer is in conversation with, I hate to say it but my book does have a lot in common in with books in the urban fantasy genre. I hate saying that because my culture isn’t fantasy. It’s spiritual and religious. My culture is a living, breathing entity that influences my everyday actions.

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Yes,' said the water monster. 'The Holy Being known as Wind gives each of us water monsters a weave of wind. We then tie it to our ankles so that we can hide our footprints from beings that would wish harm upon us. More often than not, humans are the harmers.'"