Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.
In this autobiographical-esque book, Alexie provides his readers with a funny yet bleak description of reservation life and the struggle that Native Americans face growing up. The protagonist of this coming of age novel is freshman, Arnold “Junior” Spirit.
Aside from the obstacles stacked against him because of his cultural heritage Arnold was also born with too much water in his brain has caused him grief all his life. It is a condition that could lead to death or severe disabilities. He however escaped with just a lisp and a stutter.
Arnold is a funny and self-deprecating narrator. He is stoic about getting beaten up on a regular basis. He writes about going over half-a-day without eating in a plain matter, because he is used to it, and it is not if others on the reservation are not suffering the same fate. He, in fact, considers himself lucky because he has a family who loves him. His father may be a drunk who will regularly take all their money to go on a bender, but he never beats him.
He is suspended from school, after throwing a geometry book at his white teacherHe doesn’t mean to hit the teacher, but as his luck would have it he does. His teacher, who is not resentful, visits him a few days into the suspension and encourages him to leave the reservation.
After deliberating, Arnold follows his teacher’s advice and begins to attend a “white” school, over twenty miles away. This educational move marks him as a traitor in his community. He finds himself caught between his home world and his school world and he believes that he does not fit in, in either place. As a result, he is must construct a new identity for himself.
In the end he realizes that he can belong to his Spokane Indian tribe as well as the “tribe of American immigrants…basketball players…bookworms…teenage boys (and) beloved sons…”
Due to its graphic language, heavy themes and teen sexuality, this book would best be read and studied by high school students.
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