Race to the Sun Quotes

“Yuck! But also, whoa! Mom really is a badass.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“What could possibly go wrong?”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Why don’t you just pretend you’re a hero for a while, and let me carry the burden of believing in you?” “What do you mean?” “It’s scary to have people expect something from you. Sometimes it’s so scary we want to run away or give up.” I nod my head vigorously. “Bingo,” I whisper under my breath. “So don’t worry about what you’re supposed to be. Just be who you are.” “Just…Nizhoni Begay?” “Exactly.” “But what if that’s not enough?” “Who you are is always enough.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Ancient powers lurk in your bones. Four mountains bind you to your home. Four days to find you are not alone. “White shell, blue turquoise, abalone, and jet, Two to remember, one to forget. The last, take from the progenitor’s debt. “The spider reveals the rainbow road. Two will pay what one once owed. Beware, beware the friendly toad. “A talking stone, a field of knives, a prom of thorns, a seethe of sand. Thoughts take form, form becomes true. To defeat the trials, you must know you. “Who will pay the lost ones’ price? Blood and flesh will not suffice. A dream must be the sacrifice. “The Merciless One keeps vigil true. Heir of lightning, overdue. What once was old is now brand-new. Only then will you be you.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“To save the planet. They are devourers, you see. They will not stop until they have consumed every patch of ground and every drop of water, and pulled the guts of Mother Earth from the inside for their own uses.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“once had to attend a Saturday anger management class at my old school for punching Elora Huffstratter in the nose. But Mac neglects to mention that Elora Huffstratter, a white girl, said my mom left us because I was a dirty Indian. Then she made war-whooping noises like something out of a bad Western. So, as far as I’m concerned, Elora totally had it coming. I would do it again in a heartbeat, even if it meant another Saturday anger management class.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Laurie Wilder, who kept asking Davery if he was “really Indian.” (Davery’s mom is African American and his dad is Navajo, and small-minded people like Laurie can’t fathom that folks can be part of two cultures—ignorance like that is another reason Davery and I both left our old public school and transferred to ICCS.)”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Think about it," Mr. Yazzie urges. "Dreams are our hopes for the future, and as such they are more powerful than anything in the physical world.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“overrated.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“A na’asho’ii dich’izhii?”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“My own face feels warm and sticky,”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Museum of Indian Arts and Culture”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“It’s scary to have people expect something from you. Sometimes it’s so scary we want to run away or give up.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“What more could a monsterslayer ask for?”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“These children are different from their ancestors. Just as the trials changed to fit Nizhoni’s imagination, so must the weapons adapt. The ways of the Diné are not static but alive and ever-changing.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Black Jet Girl”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Why don’t you just pretend you’re a hero for a while, and let me carry the burden of believing in you?”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Yá’át’ééh,” it says in a soft laughing voice that sounds like clear water running in a rocky stream. “I am Tsídii, the herald of Dook’o’oosłiid, the Mountain of the Afternoon, the westernmost sacred mountain and the home of the Yellow Corn Guardians and the Yellow Warbler Heralds.” It turns its head to Łizhin. “You rang?”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“I am Dólii, the herald of Tsoodził, the Mountain of the Day, the southernmost sacred mountain and the home of the Turquoise Guardians and the Bluebird Heralds.” It turns its head to Łizhin. “I heard your call, sister, so I came. How may I help?”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“The honor is mine,” Łizhin says, ducking her head in a small bow. “I am the herald of Dibé Nitsaa, the Mountain of the Folding Darkness, the northermost sacred mountain and the home of the Jet Guardians and the Black Bird Heralds.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Łizhin. It is an honor.” He says her name like CLEH-zhin.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Yá’át’ééh,” I say, using my formal voice. “My name is Nizhoni Begay. My mother’s clan is Towering House. My father’s clan is Bitter Water. My maternal grandfather’s clan is the Mud People clan, and my paternal grandfather’s clan is the Crystal Rock people.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Yes,” Mr. Yazzie explains. “There are four—one for each of the cardinal directions: east, south, west, and north. They were set in place by the Diyin Dine’é and equipped with a guardian and a herald to care for the land. They surround the ancestral home of the Diné people, and each represents a powerful part of Navajo history and culture.” “Four mountains bind you”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“believe Mr. Charles is related to a nasty kind of monster called a bináá’ yee aghání. These are vicious bird creatures that the original Monsterslayer imprisoned at Tsé Bit’a’í, the volcanic pillar now called Shiprock. Mr. Charles is a shape-shifter,”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“But if I give this to you, you must remember that whenever you have food and someone else does not, you must feed them first. Or else you’ll bring hunger down on others. Do you understand?”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Marcus Be-gay!” Adrien shouts. “Oh, please be gay!” “Gay! Gay! Gay!” they chant, like the brainless homophobes they are.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“I notice his Navajo sheep camp sits next to three others made by different kids: a Pueblo plaza scene, a Lakota tipi, and a Haudenosaunee longhouse.”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Na’asho’ii dich’izhii means horned toad,”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“shimásání—that’s what I call my grandmother on my mother’s side”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun

“Did you know her side of the family goes way back in Navajo history? All the way back to the goddess Changing Woman? She’s—” “I know about Changing Woman. But we call her a Holy Person, not a goddess,”
― Rebecca Roanhorse, Race to the Sun