The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
By Sherman Alexie
Alexie,
Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New
York: Little, Brown, 2007. Print.
ISBN-13: 9780316013697, Paperback, US $6.77
Overview
Sherman Alexie tells the story of Arnold Spirit, Jr. a 14-yr old budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Born with brain damage, Arnold wears thick glasses, has a stutter and a lisp and has been the constant target of bullies all his life. Prone to seizures he has survived against great odds. He is determined not to lose hope despite the darkness he must face as part of life on the reservation. At the urging of a teacher he leaves his troubled school on the reservation to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Alexie, an American Indian himself, uses harsh class and race observations to tell this amazing story of modern life for an Indian living on a Reservation through the eyes of young Arnold. This book crosses the cultures of a Native American Indian reservation and Reardon, a white/Christian cultured town in a rural setting. This story confronts many issues; racism, culture boundaries, friendship (Rowdy, Penelope), and having the ability to change your life if one is so inclined. A great story that can be related to young readers from any level.
Reviews
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he thought he was destined to live. (Amazon.com)
Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a young adult
novel about a bright boy who -- to put it bluntly -- is having his soul beaten
out of him by the atrocious quality of the educational system on an Indian
Reservation. Finally a teacher tells him he has to get out before he gives up
like everyone else on the reservation. Which is how he ends up going to an
all-white school 20 miles down the road. It's a great introduction to Alexie
and his sharp class and race observations.
-- greeniezona