Sing Down the Moon: A Newbery Honor Award Winner

Newbery Honor Book

In this powerful novel based on historical events, the Navajo tribe's forced march from their homeland to Fort Sumner is dramatically and courageously narrated by young Bright Morning.

The story grounds this history in Canyon de Chelly, portraying Navajo families tending their sheep beside red stone cliffs and peach orchards. The peaceful canyon falls into devastation when soldiers invade the valley, burn the hogans, and chop down the fruiting trees.

O'Dell depicts the harrowing three-hundred-mile journey to Fort Sumner, following Bright Morning through bitter winter winds, hunger, and confinement at Bosque Redondo. Like the author's Newbery Medal-winning classic Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell's Sing Down the Moon is a gripping tale of survival, strength, and courage.

• Coming of Age: Bright Morning celebrates her Kin-nadl-dah ceremony in borrowed silver and turquoise, grinding four sacks of corn and racing toward the sunrise to prove her endurance.
• Adventure Books for Girls: When Spanish slavers capture Bright Morning and her friend Running Bird, the girls orchestrate a daring night escape on stolen pinto horses.
• Survival Stories for Kids: After a bullet leaves Tall Boy's fighting arm crippled, he and Bright Morning rely on quiet resilience to secure food and shelter in an unforgiving landscape.
• Multicultural Children's Books: Rich details immerse readers in traditional Navajo life, from tending family flocks across high mesas to singing sacred songs for the seasons.
• Also by This Author: Zia, Thunder Rolling in the Mountains and The Black Pearl.