by Evelyn Begody (Author)
In Facing East, Navajo memoirist Evelyn Begody revisits her unique K-5 education, including her many teachers, whose influences, from inspiring to transformational, serve as the conductors of her early learning. Her Navajo language and culture shape each chapter as Begody introduces the reader to her family, peers, neighborhoods, and ever-expanding world in schools in California and Arizona. Especially heartbreaking is her Navajo Nation boarding school experience, from where she gazes toward home with new and painful understanding. Begody's story, as rich and humorous as it is harrowing, is above all honest. Her insatiable hunger for learning is her driving force as she navigates six years of formal and real-world education. Facing East will move readers with its generosity, forthrightness, and deep appreciation of the infinite ways we learn and grow.