Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Healer of the Water Monster

This was a good start to a new series that I'm looking forward to continuing, probably next Middle Grade March! I really liked the secondary characters and what they brought to the story.

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alwyshaveabook82's review

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adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

A wonderful new middle grade adventure. An eleven year old is spending the summer months with his grandmother on the Navajo Nation, on her land without electricity or running water.

Our hero is a scientifically minded youngster with a great heart. Of course, people of his age will love reading about the adventure complete with night hiking, obstacles to overcome, and new companions. For older readers, there is a long authorʼs note and a letter from Cynthia Leitich Smith that illuminate the traditional knowledge included and the presentation of contemporary life.

Nathan learns stories and songs. He explores his own heart and mind. He speaks up to say what he knows. The challenge of healing is presented in multiple and overlapping ways: Nathen believes that his uncle (a veteran struggling with alcohol consumption) needs both the hataałiʼs traditional ceremony and the pyschiatristʼs medication to heal. Nathen himself is coping with immediate family struggles and his own self-image. What helps is working physically, paying attention to nature, and hearing stories.

Itʼs a great book.

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annalisaely's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this so much the mythology was so interesting and the different characters were fascinating. The mental illness rep (PTSD and depression) was a bit brutal but very good from my perspective (I have both but from different causes than the characters). I would recommend caregivers find and read those sections first and maybe have a talk with a 10 and up child about them before having them read it, but other than that I think this is very accessible and would be very interesting to MG aged kids. There are also themes of divorce (parents of the protagonist), grief and death that are accessible and might be a good way to initiate or continue discussions of those things with kids. All of it is handled in a very hopeful way.

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alenka's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was so emotional and beautiful! The descriptive prose was lovely and easy to visualize, even when Young describes the holy beings and other worldly landscapes. Nathan is a wonderful character - warm, kind, sensitive and affectionate - even physically affectionate, the way he hugs people and cuddles Pond to make him feel better is so sweet - but also strong, both physically - phew all that chopping wood etc! - and mentally/emotionally. He has some trauma from the way his parent's would fight around their divorce, but he develops incredible resiliency so that he can work though his discomfort to reach out to his Uncle Jet. Uncle Jet's struggles - treating his depression with alcoholism, mainly - are very rough but they are depicted in a way that doesn't feel too rough for young readers who haven't seen a person trying to cope with such trauma. On the flip side, for kids who do have adults with such problems in their life, I feel like this will be a relief, because there is a lot of hope in this story, even when things are quite dark.

Nathan's relationship with is grandmother is deeply important to the book, and it feels very unique. There are lots of kids with strong, loving connections to their grandparents in children's lit, but Nathan's grandmother believe in him, allows him to guide her understanding and gives him space and independence in a way that was honestly unexpected. She TRUSTS him, even moreso than the other adults in his life, and that trust feels so precious and valuable.

This is a truly beautiful book with so many elements I haven't even touched on - the focus on the importance of water and the effects of climate change, including environmental racism, is a big one - and I really hope we see more from Brian Young!

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