Code Talker

A Noble Inquiry into Survival and Belonging


Navajo code talker and U.S. Marine, Talking Boy Gorman, lies wounded and alone as the WWII fight for Iwo Jima explodes all around. Pain drives his urgent need to discover why Vargas, his own bodyguard, tries to kill him. He remembers the frequently told stories of his great grandparents, Juanito and Hunts Quail, and how Juanito’s half-brother and mortal enemy murdered Hunts Quail just as she gave life to his own grandfather on the Long Walk. In the morphine haze, Talking Boy hears these same old stories of the Navajo Nation during the U.S. army’s recent attempts to exterminate an entire people. He tries to imitate Juanito’s mountain cry, “I shall surrender never!” but knows that, by joining the marines, somehow, he’s already given up something sacred. In a letter in his mind he asks his sweetheart, Penny Joe, “how come I change flags so easily?” Talking Boy radios his Indian language code which helps save a nation at war and hears the sing-song words among flying bombs and bullets. He faces Varga’s revenge and unravels the mystery of family hate. In  the end, he discovers the secret which drives him and all of the Navajo Code Talkers to war.


“With Code Talker Ivon Blum tells the largely unsung story of bilingual heroes and WWII—draftees of the much-maligned Navajo nation who used their own tongue to transmit top-secret battlefield messages to outwit Japanese forces. Blum’s compelling characters keep the action coming and the suspense high while weaving in Navajo history, life and spiritual beliefs.” Vicki Leon, author of 40 books of historical detection, including 4000 Years of Uppity Women and 2013’s The Joy of Sexus—.