This modernized Navajo mythology with a fun girl hero races along as the title implies, but sometimes a bit too fast for the story to have a deeper impact on readers. She also learns that her big dream of being famous among her classmates is not nearly as important as standing up and protecting her own family. There's also much talk about Nizhoni's mom abandoning the family when she was young, and the seventh grader learns to deal with her anger over it. Also, characters are kidnaped or go missing a boy is bullied, chased, and beaten up and the main character, Nizhoni, is threatened with a knife. A hand holding a gun is chopped off, a cut-open buzzard rains intestines, and buzzards are burned and shot in the eyeballs. Expect a few splashes of gory violence, especially when giant buzzard monsters show up. If kids are new to Navajo mythology, they'll learn quite a bit here, and are helped along by a glossary. This is Native American author Rebecca Roanhorse's first book for kids, but she has a number of lauded adult books in the fantasy genre. Riordan published many Greek, Roman, Norse, and Egyptian mythology stories for kids starting with Percy Jackson and has since started an imprint to highlight authors from different cultures writing about mythology. Parents need to know that Race to the Sun is a modern take on Navajo mythology from the publisher Rick Riordan Presents. Also repeated mentions of Spam and the Spider-Man franchise. Practically an ad for Hot Cheetos since a boy in the story adores them.
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