Books by Ann Stalcup

Abarefoot Mary has dancedto soaring ballet music from an old gramophone, in her back garden ever since she learned to walk. Her head is filled with dreams of someday becoming a ballerina. Even when she is old enough to go to school, she rusheshome everyday and with brown paper wings pinned to her shoulders, she dances and dances until darkness falls. When, at last,a dance teacher comes to her small town, she learns to arabesque and pli and leap gracefully through the air. After a while she is chosen to perform a solo in a town hall concert. She is filled with both pride and anxiety. She needs a ballet dress. But there is aproblem

For a long time Ann Stalcup has been fascinated by the role that the over 300 Navajo Code Talkers played in the Pacific during World War ll. Although all the facts are true, this story is a fictionalized account of the Code Talkers—America’s Secret Weapon. There is increased urgency in telling their story in a way that young people, as well as adults, can understand and appreciate. The author interviewed four of the original “talkers” in Arizona and New Mexico before writing this book and was impressed with their courage, graciousness, and desire to share their story. For twenty-three years following the war, their unbroken code had remained a secret. Not even their families were permitted to know the part they had played in fighting the war. This inspiring story focuses for the most part on one man, but it is the experience of every code talker’s dangers and triumphs. Recognition of their contribution was a long time coming.