Healer of the Water Monster, by Brian Young

    Author Brian Young is a playwright and screenwriter, but this is his first book for young adults and teens. He is Navajo, and Healer of the Water Monster is a tale that incorporates many of the Navajo stories that explain the world and all of its workings and wonders. Similar to a Percy Jackson book, which relies on Greek mythology to create a new fictional story, Water Monster uses Navajo tales to tell the story of young Nathan and his search for his own heritage and strength. This is Nathan's hero's journey, using native American folklore as the vehicle for the story.

     I stopped reading this book twice along the way. Both times I didn't think I was going to finish it, but I kept going back to all the strong reviews it was getting and trying to convince myself that the story was going to get better if I just kept reading. It did, and for that I am grateful that I continued on. This is a really important story in YA and teen lit. But the reasons I almost stopped reading is because the writing seems so robotic a lot of the time. I found the dialogue in the book really difficult to believe. For an author who is used to writing in other genres and for other audiences, I think he really needs more practice writing for teens. It seemed like he was trying really hard to write for a younger audience that his characters lost a lot of their personality along the way.

    Rick Riordan Presents is a newer imprint that is publishing fiction books by new authors telling stories of cultures other than the white, American mainstream. We Need Diverse Books is also a publishing branch that is doing the same thing, and Water Monster was printed with their help. This is really important work, and these stories need to be written and read by all of us! This book is one of a very few teen books written with Native American culture as its backbone, and for that it is a good book to read. But Eric Gansworth and Sherman Alexie write much better stories with these same themes. For that I give this book 3 paws and a wag.

    I hope Young continues to write, and the book leaves a sequel as a possibility, but his writing needs to be a lot better if he is going to be a mainstay in teen and YA lit.