Ceremony (Contemporary American Fiction Series)
Tayo is a half-white Laguna Indian emotionally stricken by white warfare and almost destroyed by his experiences as a World War II prisoner of the Japanese. Unable to find a place among Native American veterans who are losing themselves in rage and drunkenness, Tayo discovers his connection to the land and to ancient rituals with the help of a medicine man, and comes to understand the need to create ceremonies, to grow and change, in order to survive. He finds peace by "finally seeing the pattern, the way all the stories fit together -- the old stories, the war stories, their stories -- to become the story that was still being told."Ceremonyis somber in tone, its narrative interspersed with fragments of myth, the writing imbued with the grace and resonance of a ceremonial chant. It powerfully evokes both a natural world alive with story and significance, and the brutal human world of Highway 66 and the streets of Gallup, where Navajos, Zunis, and Hopis in torn jackets stand outside bars "like cold flies stuck to the wall."Ceremonyis deeply felt, but avoids glib mysticism; it is informed not by bitterness and racial animosity, but by a larger sense of sorrow and an awareness of "how much can be lost, how much can be forgotten." Tayo's spiritual healing becomes an offering of hope and redemption for tribal cultures.-- For great reviews of books for girls, check outLet's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. --From500 Great Books by Women; review by Prudence Hockley