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

I love this book. It’s been several months since I read it, so I can no longer give you an in-depth description of what it’s about. In a nutshell, the story is told from the perspective of a young man who doesn’t really seem to fit in anywhere, and thus ends up being able to go everywhere. Although Arnold has grown up on a reservation, he was born with hydrocephalus and has always been treated as a bit of an outcast. Yet, he manages to see humor in the outrageous situations he is faced with.

The story not only deals with his experiences on the reservation, but also his experiences when he decides to attend high school in a town off the res and the resultant further alienation from friends and family back home.

The most memorable thing about this book is that it kept me laughing and, yet, also managed to make me cry. Alexie adeptly brings up Native American social and political issues, both past and present, without apology and without it feeling heavy handed. He even brings in issues of death and loss in a way that is poignant without being contrived, overly simplistic, or melodramatic, as is sometimes the case in literature that is geared towards young adults.

This was certainly my favorite for this year’s California Young Reader Medal, hands down. My one word of caution for adults introducing and discussing the book with their own young readers is that it does contain references to sex and masturbation, which is probably to be expected in a book written from a teenage boy’s perspective. Personally, I don’t feel that these references are distracting or inappropriate, and considering all the other issues for discussion that this book brings up, it is just one more conversation starter.

October 25, 2009 Tags: California Young Reader Medal Posted in: fiction, realistic, Young Adult