Racing the Sun

12-year old Brandon's Grandpa said he was going to come. Brandon was horrified, but then when his Grandpa told him to race the sun and heard him chant at night, Brandon couldn't stand it anymore. But soon Brandon grows to loves his Grandpa. Soon, when he heard that his Grandpa had cancer, and wanted to go back to his homeland, but his parents won't listen, he decides to runaway with his Grandpa. I think this book was kind of boring then kind of fun. First it was boring, but the middle and the ending was great! Some of the parts were funny (like the part when Brandon called Grandpa a genuine Navajo alarm clock), and some of the parts were sad (like the part when Grandpa died...)I would reccomend this book to anybody who likes stories that are a little bit funny and sad.

Paul Pitts writes with so many human emotions and images that my fifth grade class of "I don't like to read" students are completely hooked!If you have ever been embarassed by your parents, grandparents, or other ethnic relatives and then realized how beautiful they truely are...maybe felt guilty because of shunning them...this book is a MUST!

We read this book as part of our summer school curriculum. This is what some of the students had to say: I liked the book because it makes me think about my grandpa that died when I was 7. I am Indian. I liked it because Brandon did not like his grandpa at first, but then he got to know him and liked him. Josh S. - grade 4 I liked the book because Brandon is lucky to have a grandpa that teaches him the old ways. Shesh-ko N. - grade 7 I liked the book because Brandon is being taught all the traditional ways of Navajo. I would like to be taught all the traditional ways of Potawatomi. Ross S. - grade 6

Paul Pitts seems to capture what is is like to live on the reservation. Considering that he is a anglo man living on the reservation he has grown to embrace the culture. I should know I went to school with his son on the same reservation.