The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian ~ Sherman Alexie

Note: I wrote this to be shared as a book talk, in class. After the book talk, we had a lot of conversation about just how much detail and information a person should share, about a book, when doing a book talk... no definitive answer on this, I'd say. But some people did feel like I shared too much, during my book talk.

The book I want to share with you today is called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, and it is by Sherman Alexie. Let me just quickly tell you a tiny bit about the author. He is a contemporary Native American author, and up until this book, everything he has written has been for adults, and he has written a combination of both novels and short stories and I think he has also done some film stuff. He has gotten really well known and won a lot of awards for his work, but, I have to admit, this is the first time I have read anything by him.

The book tells the story of Junior, also known as Arnold Spirit. He is a 14 year old Indian kid who lives on the reservation in eastern Washington state. The story is told through his eyes and in his voice. Basically, it is written like a journal that he is writing. He is a pretty funny kid, and he has a great way of telling the story. So, one of the things that, I think, makes this story a good one to read is the voice of the narrator/main character.

So, Junior turns out to be a pretty smart kid, we learn this early on and for whatever reasons we believe him (if you read the book you would have to decide if you thought so, really). we also learn early on, through his descriptions, that life on the rez is pretty bad. People are poor, people drink a lot, people are sad. It is just not that great a place to grow up. [yet, there seems to be happiness, too, and that is one of the interesting things about this book, to me, how there can be both happiness and sadness, such hope and such despair, all at the same time]

Within the first few chapters, a pivotal event occurs, an event which as you read it is, again, this odd combination of funny and sad I just mentioned. At the start of the new school year, Junior accidentally breaks his white math teacher’s nose with a textbook, resulting in him getting suspended from school. I have to reiterate what I sort of said above – he’s a good kid, not a troublemaker, not the sort of kid who usually gets suspended.

[during my book talk, I read a section from the book, here]

The teacher then comes to see Junior, and, in a surprising turn of events, rather than yelling at Junior, he apologizes for all the sins that the white people have committed against the Indians, weeps openly in front of Junior (freaking him out quite a bit) and quietly tells Junior that if he is ever going to be anything or go anywhere, he needs to get the heck off the reservation.

Junior has the wisdom to listen to his teacher’s advice, and, bravely, decides to try going to the white kids school, about 22 miles away from his home. The rest of the story is about what it is like for him to go there, the difficulties he faces, the fun he has, and the way he has to try to navigate two very different worlds and figure out who he is, as a person, a student, a friend and a Native American.

One of the things that is interesting about this book, and that makes it especially fun to read is that there are cartoons, pictures, graphics, throughout. Junior is an artist, who loves to use drawing to make sense of the world as well as to provide commentary about the world, so, his drawings are included throughout, and they definitely add to the story.

You can read more about Sherman Alexie on his website; this is where I learned just how autobiographical this novel really is, which I thought was sort of interesting.

The Rules of Survival ~ Nancy Werlin

I think Katie Rose thinks I am a wimp. A reading wimp, that is. Just want the nice, gentle, sweet storylines. Nothing sad, harsh, scary.

It’s funny. She’s right, of course. The sad, scary, harsh stuff SCARES me – or, is it that the sad scary harsh stuff prompts emotions in me that are scary and hard to handle? (whoa, I’m going all psychology on you now), and I have a desire to avoid it. And, I really did hate The Chocolate War, which WAS sad, scary, and hard. But, interestingly I guess that some of the other things I have read also share these qualities (so many books with dead moms, what’s up with that?), and yet, I read them with interest and even enjoyment. Certainly, you could never argue that The Book Thief was not sad, scary, and harsh. Yet, it was also much more, wasn’t it? (at least some people thought so. I know not everyone did, and that is okay..)

All of this brings me to The Rules of Survival, which I read a few weeks back, and which I was gripped by, and really enjoyed reading. Yet, if I give you the “brief description”, the review, you’ll wonder how I could have read it.

The book opens with a particularly self conscious narrative device, a “cover letter” written by the narrator, explaining what he is about to do: tell, to his younger sister and for her benefit, the story of what happened to them, a few years back, with their crazy mother. At the time he writes this opening letter, Matt says he is 17. He acknowledges that what he is about to do, write their story, is certainly going to be painful, but is something that he recognizes he might need to do not just to share what happened with Emmy, the supposed recipient of the story, but also so that he can actually process, make sense of, and, presumably move on from, the events that happened. There’s a fair amount of foreshadowing built in to that short opening section. Yet, since Matt is now 17, and writing it all down, we know that, in some way, it all comes out okay.

Matt is older brother to Emmy, who is around 5 or so when the story begins, and Callie, who is about 11. He is fiercely protective of both of them (though especially Emmy, and, in many ways, he and Callie band together to protect Emmy), and it is this desire to protect them that much of the story revolves around. They live with their totally psycho and wacked out mom who, interestingly, Matt calls Nikki, rather than “Mom.” My guess is that this is a conscious effort, on his/the author’s part, to create a certain distance or lack of emotional involvement. I think it is the sort of thing that might bother a reader, but, I did not find it troublesome at all.

If you ever felt like you were not the best mom (which I realize most of you have probably not felt, but I have), watching Nikki for a few days will quickly make you re-think that idea. She’s a case. Alternately crazy-fun (taking the kids on day adventures meant to prove her love for them and her “worth” as a mom: in one such instance she rents a jeep [you know, a “fun car”], takes them to an amusement park, and essentially force-feeds the kids cotton candy, so that they can know how much she loves them) and crazy-psycho (violent, irrational, abusive, etc.).


Much of the story hinges on the introduction and subsequent involvement of a stranger, an adult named Murdoch McIlvane. The older kids, Matt and Callie, see him one night when they have snuck out for Popsicles (Nikki’s out on date-night and has left them home alone, locked in). For various reasons, which are made clear as the story unfolds, they take an interest in him, eventually pursue him, and manage to involve him in their lives. Ultimately, what they are looking for is someone to save them. None of the adults in their immediate world are able to help them with the Nikki problem. Matt and Callie have a dad, but he’s only marginally present, and way too intimidated by Nikki to actually help his kids. Likewise, Nikki has a sister, who lives in the same building as Nikki and the kids, but she’s equally unhelpful.

There are some unrealistic things in the story. For me, I find it hard to believe that the above-mentioned adults could be so lame. But, I suppose it’s possible. Also, the kids success in weaving Murdoch in to their world seems contrived, and his staying seems hard to believe. Nevertheless, if you suspend your disbelief a bit, it all works and comes together. In the end, I think what helps is just Matt, who he is as a character, how he narrates the story, and what he learns and how he reflects throughout the process. I found myself just really liking this kid, and wanting to see happened to him (and whether he and his siblings were able to end up in a better place), and I think that was what pulled me through the story with such interest.

The Rules of Survival was a National Book Award finalist.