The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie with illustrations by Ellen Forney

Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown, 2012. Kindle Edition. ISBN: 0316013684. (Originally published in print in 2007.)

Summary:

14 year-old Arnold “Junior” Spirit feels he is going nowhere fast on his reservation in the state of Washington. It all began the day in his math class when he was given his “new” textbook for the year – and it had his mother’s maiden name written in it. His “new” textbook was more than 30 years old! Junior throws his book in disgust, setting off a chain of events that would lead him to stop attending school on the “Rez” and seek his educational opportunities at the all-white high school 22 miles away. Soon, Junior finds himself a stranger in a strange land – not accepted in his new environment, yet vilified as a “traitor” by the only people he has known his whole life. Will Junior be able to navigate his new world while still staying true to the culture and only life he has ever known on the Rez? Will his family and friends ever forgive him if he does make it in the “white” world?

Review:

This novel is full of the despair and delight that one can only experience in true life. The story’s hero, Junior, is heartbreaking and hilarious all at once. During the reading of this novel, I often found myself laughing out loud while the tears were still pouring down my face from ex especially depressing paragraph. Born with several physical impairments as well as severe speech impediments, Junior is the object of bullying and taunting his whole life. he notes that he wants to grow up to be an artist “because words are too unpredictable…too limited” to get his full meaning across (Sherman, Kindle location 88). But, Junior states, the worst thing about his life on the rez is not the bullying. The worst thing is that the people growing up there have been poor for so long, they have come to feel they deserve their poverty. Despite this, Alexie is able to find with Junior the dark humor present in so many of life’s most depressing situations.

Alexie includes content and situations that would put this book at the top of many “challenged books” lists – masturbation, violent death, views on homosexuality, bullying – a veritable cornucopia of taboo subjects. But Alexie approaches these subjects in a very natural, conversational tone, completely from the point of view of a 14 year-old boy. I imagine that if I listened in on any teenaged boy and his friends during their most secret conversations, I might hear some of the same topics being discussed. It is because Alexie speaks of these topics in such a “normal” tone that this book should be celebrated rather than attacked. It is important for adolescents to form their own opinions from a variety of sources, then be able to discuss these “hot button” topics at home in an informed manner. Conversational introductions such as the ones presented in this book are an excellent way for teens to begin to form their own opinions. Reading this book and then discussing it together provides a natural means for parents and educators to act as the “frontal lobe” for the developing brain of teenagers (Gorman, 34). As Gorman stated in her article, teens’ brains are still developing, so their own sense of judgment can sometimes be questionable (34). This does not mean, however, that we should step in and prevent them from reading material we feel is risqué. Instead, we should embrace the opportunity to help teens develop their own decision making processes and problem solving skills by discussing topics that we as adults know are being discussed by students, but may normally feel uncomfortable discussing. Just because one is uncomfortable discussing a topic does not mean that topic does not exist in the real world. Students need the input and guidance (without being overbearing) of adults during a time in their lives when their rational decision making faculties are still developing.

Part of the reason why this book works so well is that Alexie states that a great many of the things that happened in this book are based on his own life as a teenager. Alexie is successfully able to put himself back in his teenaged mind-set to offer an authentic and realistic representation of what this particular teenage boy is experiencing and how he reacts to those experiences.

Overall, this novel is very powerful. However, there is one weakness – the final showdown between Junior and his former best friend Rowdy. In the book, Junior is suddenly able to jump higher, out-dribble and generally beat the socks off his former team. I find this a little hard to believe, however, considering the health problems Alexie made it a point to list at the beginning of the book. Yes, having a son with asthma and other health problems, I know it is possible to still play sports with these conditions. I also know that adrenaline is a powerful thing that can make the impossible seem possible. However, I also know that if a student had seizures, brain damage and a host of other physical problems, many schools would not let that student play sports due to liability reasons. That being said, this was the only weakness I perceived in the whole novel.

Awards:

National Book Award – 2007

Boston-Globe Horn Book Award – 2008

International Book on Books for Young People Sweden - Peter Pan Prize – 2009

California Young Reader Medal – 2010

Finalist,  Los Angeles Times Book Prize – 2007

Teaching Extensions:

Have students write a diary-type entry regarding a time in their lives when they felt they had to change something – location, image, hair, etc. – in order to make their lives better. Did it help? Did anything change?

Have students reflect on the scene where the brother are bullying Junior at the powwow. Have them write an entry from the brothers’ point of view explaining why they picked on him. Use examples of rationalizations from the book. Then discuss why these rationalizations are not an excuse to bully others.

Reference:

Gormon, M. (2006). The terrible teens. School Library Journal, 52(6), 34. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6338706.html