Shards of Silence

Young (Heroes of the Water Monster), an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, draws on personal experience to craft a gripping story about an Indigenous teenager’s grappling with exciting and frightening new experiences upon leaving his childhood home. Earning a scholarship to elite Sagefield Preparatory Academy in Connecticut upends 15-year-old Derrick Hoskie’s life on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico, where he was raised by his mother, grandmother Rosie, and great-grandmother Másání Mildred. Derrick struggles with leaving home, particularly given Másání Mildred’s fragile health, but he also recognizes the opportunity’s transformative potential. A history term paper impels him to learn more about Másání Mildred’s life, but when she refuses to share her experiences, Derrick begins his own research on residential schools, prompting him to reflect on generational trauma and ongoing prejudice. And as Derrick contends with racism, homesickness, and pressure to succeed, feelings of overwhelm push him to look to his peers—some of whom use caffeine, drugs, and cheating to get by—for guidance. Matter-of-fact prose culminates in a textured, nonjudgmental look at one teen’s struggle to navigate culture shock. An illuminating author’s note underscores the novel’s cultural and historical grounding, which entrenches readers in a fully fleshed-out world enriched by extensive use of Navajo language and cultural specificity. A glossary concludes. Ages 13–up. Agent: Dan Mandel, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (May)