Waterless Mountain in Around the World in 80 Books

Apr 16, 2021 Linda Martin rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, newbery-medal-winners, fiction, native-americans, geo-arizona, families, historical-fiction, 2021

If you want to read a book rich in the secrets of the ancient Navajo culture - this is the book for you. If, on the other hand, you want to read a book with a clear plot and exciting action, you might be disappointed with Waterless Mountain. This book won the Newbery Medal in 1932.

Waterless Mountain was written by a white woman about Native Americans. Much has been made about how a white character in the book (page 66) used the word "savages" to describe the Navajos, but it was just the viewpoi If you want to read a book rich in the secrets of the ancient Navajo culture - this is the book for you. If, on the other hand, you want to read a book with a clear plot and exciting action, you might be disappointed with Waterless Mountain. This book won the Newbery Medal in 1932.

Waterless Mountain was written by a white woman about Native Americans. Much has been made about how a white character in the book (page 66) used the word "savages" to describe the Navajos, but it was just the viewpoint of a fictional white woman, not the opinion of the author herself. The word was probably used to show the attitude of some white people at that time.

The author, Laura Adams Armer, said she was a descendant of President John Adams. She became a well-known artist and photographer during the years she lived in San Francisco and Berkeley, California. Around 1919 she traveled to the Southwest and met Hopis and Navajos. She settled in there, becoming their trusted friend. Her novel is a testament to the great love and high esteem she had for the Navajo culture.

Waterless Mountain won the 1932 Newbery Medal and became a source of much needed revenue for Laura during the Great Depression. I was happy to learn that this great effort of hers served her so well and helped her survive during hard times.

I wish I could say I loved the book, but it was a very tedious slog for me. Learning so much about Navajo culture felt like a blessing, but sometimes it got too deep into legends and ceremonies, descriptions of which interrupted the flow of the story. It was almost impossible to detect a plot. I have a hard time loving fiction without a plot.

At least there was a likable main character. "Younger Brother" is what he was called throughout the novel. It was a coming of age story for this young man destined to become a medicine man for his people. He was a respectful and talented teenager developing into a young man who would carry on the Navajo traditional culture.

How I wish this book were more readable! The illustrations by the author and her husband are lovely. ...more

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Jul 24, 2009 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it liked it

Shelves: newbery, children-s-books

This is the coming-of-age novel of a young Navaho boy, Younger Brother, as he learns the world of his people and learns the secrets of his tribe's wiseman and learns the ways of the larger world. Younger Brother helps a friend, The Big Man, with car problems. He goes on a long quest and finds he can survive on his own. He saves his horse from thieves. All the tales are told with a background of magic and mystery, with the mountains and desert as a magnificent setting.

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