Nizhoni Begay is a Diné (Navajo) seventh grader who can see monsters masquerading as regular people. This includes Mr. Charles, the white head of a big oil company who's is only pretending to be interested in hiring her dad in order to capture her younger brother, Mac, for his ability to control water. Nzhoni knows she has to figure out how to stop Mr. Charles. Mr. Charles, for his part, is intent on stopping her. With the help of Mr. Yazzi, a toy horned toad come to life, Nizhoni sets off with Mac and their friend Davery, who is Black/Navajo, to gain the knowledge and gather the gifts that will help defeat Mr. Charles. Their quest takes them first to the home of Diné Holy Person Spider Woman, who gives them a map to the home of the Sun, where they can get weapons forged to fight the monsters. Along the way, they must stop at each of the Four Sacred Mountains to gather gifts and pass through a series of obstacles that transform according to each of their weaknesses/traumas. For Nizhoni, whose mother also had the ability to see and fight monsters and was being trained by Mr. Yazzi when she was disappeared years before, this means reckoning with her loss. Nizhoni is the first-person narrator at the center of an immensely likeable cast of heroes in this captivating fantasy. (Ages 8-12)

Lately, seventh grader Nizhoni Begay has been able to detect monsters, like that man in the fancy suit who was in the bleachers at her basketball game. Turns out he's Mr. Charles, her dad's new boss at the oil and gas company, and he's alarmingly interested in Nizhoni and her brother, Mac, their Navajo heritage, and the legend of the Hero Twins. Nizhoni knows he's a threat, but her father won't believe her. When Dad disappears the next day, leaving behind a message that says "Run!", the siblings and Nizhoni's best friend, Davery, are thrust into a rescue mission that can only be accomplished with the help of Diné Holy People, all disguised as quirky characters. Their aid will come at a price: the kids must pass a series of trials in which it seems like nature itself is out to kill them. If Nizhoni, Mac, and Davery can reach the House of the Sun, they will be outfitted with what they need to defeat the ancient monsters Mr. Charles has unleashed. But it will take more than weapons for Nizhoni to become the hero she was destined to be . . . Timeless themes such as the importance of family and respect for the land resonate in this funny, fast-paced, and exciting quest adventure set in the American Southwest.