.jpg)
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?
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.
National
Book Award – 2007
.jpg)
