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.