Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
When Nizhoni Begay notices a mysterious man in a suit sitting in the bleachers at her Junior High basketball game, she can’t take her eyes off him. So much so, she misses the game winning shot.
The thing is, she knows instinctively that this man is a monster in disguise.
After the game, she learns the monster is her Dad’s new boss, Mr. Charles, and he is very interested in Nizhoni and her little brother, Mac.
Nizhoni calls out Mr. Charles to her Dad, who doesn’t believe her.
In fact, he seems disappointed in her outburst, but when Mr. Begay ends up getting kidnapped by Mr. Charles and his cronies, it is up to Nizhoni to save him!
Nizhoni has always wanted to be a hero and this is her chance.
Along with her best friend, Davery, and her little brother, Mac, they set out on a quest to rescue Mr. Begay and stop Mr. Charles from releasing a horde of ancient monsters upon the world.
Working off the Navajo legend of the Hero Twins, this adventurous Middle Grade novel tackles facing our fears and the importance of family.
While it started out a little slow for me, once the kids finally got into the quest, meeting the Spider Woman and finding the Rainbow Road, I really started to enjoy it.
I didn’t find this quite as humorous as earlier releases by this imprint, but that is really personal taste more than an issue with the book itself.
Overall, this is a great story for Middle Grade readers. I loved learning more about the legends of the Navajo culture and if more books release in this series, I would absolutely read them.
Nizhoni and Davery’s friendship was so pure and I loved little Mac as well!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney Book Group, as well as Rick Riordan Presents, for providing me with an early copy of this to read and review.
I have enjoyed so many of the books in this imprint and this one is no exception!