it makes sense that i have loved this spiritual novel in the same season i have been daily listening to "my sweet lord." neither novel nor song is perfect, but the balance between yearning and joy in both is everything. ( )

A young Navajo boy is destined to be a medicine man as he has the right spirit for the job. Set in present day (that being early 1930s based on the publication date) this is reminiscent of a number of Newbery books from that era when the committee favored historical fiction and books that told about other cultures. The plot is minimal. Mainly, we move around over a period of a few years seeing what life was like in the Navajo lands of the first half of the 20th century. Since books from that era would never portray white Americans as bad, the one white character, referred to usually as "the Big Man," is a kind and generous merchant, who cares deeply about the Navajo people he trades with. I rather suspect such a benevolent merchant was not to be found trading with the Native Americans in the 1930s.
Not a bad book, but not good enough to recommend unless the reader has a particular interest in Native American cultures. ( )

Perhaps this just isn't my kind of book. I can’t really find anything I didn’t like about it, and some unexpected entertaining scenes were developed as Younger Brother went on his growth toward manhood and whatnot. I was never fully invested, and the tales that are told within the book (presumably of the ‘passed on through generations’ genre) just struck me as strange. Yeah, not a bad book, but not for me. ( )

Newbery Medal 1931. Story of A Navajo boy and his journey to manhood and his learning to be a medicine man. Poignant look at traditional Navajo life as of the early part of the 20th century. ( )

This 1932 Newbery winner is set in Navajo country in northern Arizona in the late 1920s or 1930-31. The main character is referred to as Younger Brother (his unused Navajo name means “Dawn Boy”, but his family often calls him Little Singer). At the beginning of the book, he is eight, and he is at least 12 by the end. The Waterless Mountain of the title may be the Kaibab Limestone formation north of the Grand Canyon, which was porous and had few sources of water.

As described in the New York Times shortly after the book’s publication (“Book Notes," 9/2/31, page 17), “the narrative deals with the experiences of a Navajo boy who is learning the lore of the medicine man. Various Navajo ceremonies, chants and beliefs are worked into the background of the account of Younger Brother as he develops from boyhood to youth. These tribal customs and legends are all authentic, according to the author,...,who lived long among the Indians...[Armer] went to Arizona to devote herself to an artistic and literary career. She painted pictures and acquired a wide knowledge of the Navajo chants and legends.”

The Navajo stories told in Waterless Mountain do appear to be authentic. I was unable to find any evidence contradicting information in this book, and lots of references on the web to yays (gods), chindi (ghosts), Spider Woman, Turquoise (aka Changing) Woman (or Estsanatlehi), and Whirling Logs sand paintings.

I think, for the time it was written, that this book is a better example of one about another culture than most. Although the author is not Native American, she spent many years observing them and grew to be accepted by them. It is appropriate for older children, ages 9 and up. It rates anywhere from grades 5 to 9 on various readability scales, so it may be difficult for some children, particularly since it is episodic rather than plot-driven. There would be numerous ways to tie the book in with a study of Navajo culture, legends, ceremonies, and arts (Younger Brother’s mother weaves and his father makes silver and turquoise jewelry, while sand painting and pottery are also discussed).

The 1936 edition of Waterless Mountain has black-and-white illustrations, four by Armer, eleven by her husband Sidney, and one by them both (the plate opposite page 26 of which Armer wrote: "The deer are mine and the background is Sidney's." The dust jacket and the frontispiece are the same, a painting by Armer, based on a composite of two of her photographs. Her other works are (in my 1936 edition): the plates opposite pages 20 (of the Bumble Bee), 128 (“The Sun Bearer and the Turquoise Woman,” my favorite), and 174 (of the Pack Rat) all signed by her. The endpapers of my 1936 edition have a Whirling Logs design similar to this. ( )