My novel, Code Talker, I first thought of decades ago when I first heard about the Navajo code talkers. And then interestingly enough my friend Philip Lee who was then at Lee and Low suggested it as a picture book.
And I began to work on it for several years. We went back and forth doing revisions. And finally after about the eighth revision, Philip said, you know, this really should be a novel, and we’re not doing novels now. Why don’t you take it somewhere else? So, I took it to another publisher and ended up doing it as a novel. That whole process took years. And in the midst of turning it into a novel, I sent the manuscript to the Navajo Code Talkers Association for them to review it, which they graciously did.
I sent it to a friend of mine who was the head of the Native museum at Diné College, and he reviewed it for me and sent it back to me. I sent it to several Navajo scholars who spoke the language to make sure the way I was writing it, the way I was using it was correct. So that by the time the book was published, we’re talking about perhaps two decades of work to make it what it was.
And the fact that Navajo code talkers themselves have enjoyed the book and we’ve done programs together has made me feel very gratified about it. And I also have been making a practice of – in fact I need to do it again sometime soon – of sending money to the Navajo Code Talkers Association to support some of their scholarship efforts with young people.