The promise of a rich harvest was shattered in the Canyon de Chelly when the Spanish slavers came and later when the white soldiers burned the crops, destroyed the orchards, and forced the Navahos from their homes. Through the eyes of Bright Morning, a young Navaho girl, we see what happens to human beings who are uprooted from the life they know. She is first captured by slavers, then forced with her people on the "Long Walk." The walk covered more than 200 miles, ending at Bosque Redondo--a reservation that was little more than a prison camp. Sing Down the Moon is also the story of proud and able Tall Boy, who is maimed not only by a physical wound but by a spiritual wound as well.

From the reviews:

"[This] story is told quietly as if in keeping with the natural stoical dignity of the American Indian, permitting the facts of 'man's cruelty to man' to speak for themselves. [Sing Down the Moon} is significant for its depiction of the triumph of the human spirit."

Horn Book

"Like the heroine of Island of the Blue Dolphins, [Bright Morning] has a quiet courage that prevails over circumstances. ... The very simplicity of [O'Dell's] writing, at times almost terse, makes more vivid the tragedy of the eviction and the danger and triumph of the return.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Beautifully written, immensely moving ... a memorable reading experience for any age."

Book World. Washington Post

"In a style that combines simplicity and intensity, Scott O'Dell shows a centuries-old way of life broken by forces it cannot understand, a proud and independent people reduced to accepting grudging hand-outs, a race of hunters and pastoralists treated like cattle. The story is told by Bright Morning, a young Navaho girl, whose simple belief in the fitness of her people's ways sustains her through a private ordeal when she is sold into slavery, and the degradation of her tribe when they are harried from their homes. [Sing Down the Moon] is a worthy addition to the work of a fine children's novelist."

Children's Book Review

Sing Down the Moon's awards:

Newbery Medal Honor Book. 1971

Booklist Contemporary Classics for Young Adults. 1984

Phoenix Award Honor Book. 1990 (Children's Literature Association)