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Friday, November 4, 2011

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Alexie, Sherman. The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007. Print.

(Image courtesy of http://www.librarything.com) 

2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature
School Library Journal Best Books of 2007
2010 California Young Reader Medal


Annotation: A semi-autobiographical, coming-of-age story of Junior, a poverty-stricken Spokane Indian who attends an all-white high school.

Book talk: I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I belonged to that tribe. But I also belonged to the tribe of American immigrants. And to the tribe of basketball players. And to the tribe of bookworms.

And the tribe of cartoonists.
And the tribe of chronic masturbators.
And the tribe of teenage boys.
And the tribe of small-town kids.
And the tribe of Pacific Northwesterners.
And the tribe of tortilla chips-and-salsa lovers.
And the tribe of poverty.
And the tribe of funeral-goers.
And the tribe of beloved sons.
And the tribe of boys who really missed their best friends.

It was a huge realization.

And that’s when I knew that I was going to be okay. (p. 217)

Have you ever struggled to fit in, even around people you’ve known all your life? That’s Junior – he’s a reject among the people on his reservation, constantly bullied and tormented. But through the encouragement of a teacher, he attends a school off the reservation in an attempt to save himself. The story that follows is both uplifting and heart-wrenching, and you find yourself cheering for this teenage hero the entire way.

ISBN:  9780316013680 

Subject Headings: Spokane Indian – Juvenile fiction, Indians of North America-Washington (state) – Fiction, Indian reservations – Fiction, Race relations – Fiction, Diaries – Fiction

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