The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (National Book Award Winner)

I was looking for a book to write an essay for my Race and Ethnicity class when I came across The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. I had read an excerpt of it about a year ago in a humanities class and remembered that, although short, it was charming. Before I say how much I loved this book, I want to point out that I read a lot of the Amazon reviews about it. I read and five star and some one star. Some of the one star reviews almost scared me away from reading it calling it immature, vulgar, and unintelligent. They said it was wildly inappropriate for teens and some even said it was anti-Christian. I gave it a chance anyway and honestly none of those things are true. I'm not saying there wasn't strong language, or masturbation topics but it was very brief and didn't compromise the integrity of the overall message what so ever. So as a result of the negative reviews I proceeded with caution. My expectations were pretty low going in however I was immediately surprised. I was hooked right away. Junior is a complex and likable character. I was so completely blown away by how amazing this book is. Kids should read this book because it's so relatable. It's real, it's raw, and somehow manages to touch your heart and make you cry. Seriously, you laugh and cry with Junior. As a sociology major, I took a special interest in this book. I was captivated by how Alexie painted such a clear picture of the stereotypes of Native Americans, especially those on the reservations. He included how intimidating and difficult it would be to try to assimilate into a new culture, by using the metaphor that Junior had been rocketed to a different planet where he didn't know the rules. Junior represents minorities who feel oppressed or feel inclined to perpetuate that self fulfilling prophecy. He is the kid who had a dream and gave himself more credit than did the rest of the world. Junior comes from a long line of chronic poverty, alcoholism, addiction, and tragedy. In other words, not very much hope or promise. And although real life is much more complicated than a fiction book, it is a wonderful thing to dream and to be reminded to never sell yourself short. One of my favorite elements Alexie used to portray the racial inequality in his book was by creating two halves of the main character. One is Junior. He's Native American, poor, and lives on a reservation. He is everything traditional Indian, through and through. And you have his other half, Arnold, who identifies as white, who as this bright future, and his cup is overflowing with hope! But we're still talking about the same character. This is so important because it emphasizes how race is a social cultural construct. He says how in traveling between the two towns, the white town and the reservation, he experienced an extreme solitariness, where he was half-Indian in one place and half-white in the other. His identity was changing because he now has this outside influence that was Rearden in his life that was making him less of an Indian by making him more white. Surely the color of his skin or other Indian features did not change into Caucasian features. It's pointing out a very influential socially constructed idea that affects everyone on some level. It's an important thing for people to learn, especially early on. Overall I loved this book, I read it in two days, I will read it again, and I definitely recommend it. I loved following along with Junior in his journey to figure out what he really is capable of. It's an inspiring and down to earth story of a boy who faced stereotypes and racial inequity as well as many deep tragedies and overcame it all. This is a very easy and quick read with such a powerful message. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The book ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian’ is an awesome read that I would recommend to anyone and everyone with $15 in their wallet and a few hours of time. First off, let me speak about the build quality and the service provided by Amazon. The book arrived in good shape, and had no visible damage on it. I believe this took 3 or 4 days to arrive, which is a nice amount of time for free delivery. I couldn’t really ask more from Amazon. The book is a good read. The age range is for teenagers about 12-16, so it should be a very simple read for just about anyone. The book recounts Sherman Alexie’s high school career, and his struggles with bullying, racism, and the American school system on and off the Spokane reservation. Junior, the protagonist, does not fit in. He is a nerd who keeps getting beat up and bullied by his peers as well as adults in his community. As an impoverished Indian, he struggles with getting to school, and when he transfers schools he has to walk miles on end. The drawings and cartoons lighten up the read from the otherwise dark and depressing topics of systemic racism and hate towards the protagonist. If you want to get somewhat emotional, while still being entertained and having a laugh once in a while, this book will take you on that roller coaster ride. It is an easy read, and relates to high school students the most. If you are in high school, chances are you have read this book at least once, maybe twice already. I would still recommend reading this book regardless. Overall, I really liked this book. I am giving it 5 stars for the good price point, great story itself and the ease of the read. I would recommend this book to anyone, and I will probably read it again in the future.

Arnold Spirit, Jr, called just “Junior” on the Spokane Indian reservation where he grows up, is already an outsider. Born with hydrocephalus, the surgery he had to fix it caused damage that gave him a lisp and a stutter, but his brain otherwise works more than fine…outside of the usual mishaps typical to the brains of teenage boys. He’s small and skinny and terrible at fighting, but that’s okay because his best (and only) friend is Rowdy, who will happily beat up anyone he can for virtually any reason. At the beginning of high school, Junior is genuinely excited to learn new things, but when the names in his algebra textbook reveals that it was once his own mother’s book, that it’s been that long since the reservation school was able to afford new books, he snaps. One of his teachers recommends he attend the local public high school outside the reservation, in a very white town called Reardan…over 20 miles away. Despite the strong social pressure to be like the other members of the tribe and stay on the rez, Junior wants to go, and his parents support him. Despite the difficulty (if his parents lack the money for gas or to fix the car, he either needs to hitchhike or walk), he goes, and finds himself in a whole new world. He’s the only Indian kid and finds himself the target of racial bullying, but he also finds unexpected friendships. He even manages to wind up the sort-of boyfriend of one of the popular girls. A talented basketball player, he makes the varsity team, setting up two of the book’s central scenes: Reardan’s two games, home and away, against the reservation high school, at which the simmering tensions around Junior’s decision to transfer become openly hostile. That hostility extends to his relationship with Rowdy, who has all but disowned him. As a tragedy in Junior’s family unfolds, his relationship to his community continues to evolve as he tries to understand what his future might hold. I’m not going to get into the allegations against Sherman Alexie here except to say that I bought this book well before those came to light. I have complicated and evolving feelings about consuming work made by people who I know to have done things I find reprehensible. That aside, I understand the fuss about this book now that I’ve read it. I’ve had a hard time connecting with young adult books recently, which makes sense because I am fully 40 and the themes these sort of books often focus on are less relevant to my life than they once were. But this book’s energy practically pushes right off the page, with Ellen Forney’s lively, funny illustrations (Junior is a budding cartoonist, the drawings are incorporated into the text) and Alexie’s semi-autobiographical voice of experience, wit, and verve combining to create a compelling, engaging quick read. There’s a lot of dark, sad stuff here: a beloved sick dog is put down at home for lack of money to take him to the vet very early on, there are multiple human deaths, a teenager is bullied and roughed up by men in their 30s, the ruinous effects of alcohol play out in several contexts, but this isn’t a book that wallows in misery. There’s an irreverence to it, a refusal to drown in sorrow. And there are bright lights. Junior’s parents, for all their flaws (his father is an alcoholic), are very supportive of their son to the extent they can be. His decision to take action to leave the reservation inspires someone else to take similar action. There is humor, there is devastation, there’s everything in between. There are issues, of course. Characters and plot elements are not uniformly well-developed. But all around, it’s a vibrant, interesting book that will speak especially, I think, to young teen boys who don’t quite know who they are quite yet. I’d definitely recommend it.

Before reading Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian I had very low hopes of the book being any good. Personally, I am not much of a reader, but I decided to give this book a try. Let me tell you, I enjoyed the book, from the comics to the actual story, it was so entertaining! As I flipped through the pages, absorbing more of the story, I found myself getting more into the book. Within a few hours, I was done with the book. As a teenager, I loved the humor carefully crafted by the author, it seemed like I was reading an actual book from a teenager. Before doing research on the book, it made me surprised the story was fiction. The story can be entirely made up, but I imagined the story was a close spitting image of what some Native-Americans on reservations have to go through. However, after I’ve done my research Alexie said, “If I were to guess at the percentage, it would be about seventy-eight percent true” (Horn Book Magazine). The book was published September 12 in 2007. Over 10 years later, the humor is still funny and it is pretty relatable. The author, Sherman Alexie, grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation and is best known for writing stories and films about his experiences as an Indigenous American. For this book specifically, he changed few details by making it more humorous to fit the category for young adult fiction. The overall plot of the book is a young teen named Arnold Spirit Jr. who lives on an Indian reservation and feels the whole world is against him. Born with birth defects easily prone to seizures and suffering from a stutter, he was raised by alcoholic parents who had very little to nothing money income. Junior was constantly bullied and to escape from this, Junior was passionate about drawing cartoons. After a talk with an important figure at school, Junior realizes he has to get out of the reservation. Junior transferred to an all-white high school called Reardon High School. There and then he faces even more bullying and tragedies in his life, from being called a traitor by his own people to important people in his life dying. Despite all this, Junior continued to draw cartoons and used humor to get over all the hardships and eventually found himself no longer feeling like an outcast. The most compelling part of the book was the characters. Overall, the characters were well developed. Every character has their own unique and distinct personality. I sometimes find myself confused or lost when a book has so many characters and very little information on them. However, Sherman Alexie was able to establish each character memorably. On another note, I wish more historical context of each character were provided, I really wanted to know more about the mysterious, drunk Eugene (when you read the book, you’ll know exactly what I mean). Sherman Alexie seemed to have put a lot of thought into the making of this book. Reading the book, everything flowed perfectly. The introduction of himself and his family to the transition of how life is like on the reservation then to Reardon High including all the hardships he had to face, the transitions were so smooth. I never found myself lost while reading this book. The book was not predictable at all, it is for sure an intriguing and original piece. While reading the book, there were few things that may seem controversial to other readers. There were few accounts where profanity and sexual references were used. The book also discusses alcohol, abuse, and bullying related to mental disabilities several times. However, I think all these controversial topics are important to learn about because it’s real life. In life, people use profanity, alcoholics exist, and those with mental disabilities do suffer from bullying. Topics like these make the book relatable in a way and the audience can have a good laugh from the dark humor. The overall message of the book appears to be a message of how important it is to have hope. Even if it seems like you are doomed to fail, you should have a positive hope and outtake for everything and you’ll achieve to what once seemed to be the impossible. From reading this, I have learned some of the few hardships of many that Native-Americans who live on reservations may have. I was close-minded to all the stereotypical things about Native-Americans to realize things like the stories in the book mentioned can actually happen. A reader can take away the hardships of a Native-American teenager who wants to live two lives as Junior from the Rez and as Arnold from Reardon High School. I would recommend teenagers in high school and young adults to read Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the book would be most humorous and relatable to those in that age group. In addition, the book is a great tool to become open-minded of the issues that Natives who live in reservations must face. I would not recommend to younger children or even teenagers in middle school because of the few controversial topics, such as the profanity and sexual references that younger children may not understand. I can image parents being not so happy with their 10-year-old kid asking what an erection is. I highly recommend for everyone (young adults and up) to read this book! It was very entertaining and eye-opening.

Sherman Alexie is one of the greatest authors of all time. Let me explain this. He has the ability to speak TO YOU through his words. Every time I read one of his books, I feel like he's talking to me and telling me his life story. His writing always sucks me in from the first page. I always laugh and cry, because let's face it, he's funny, but the stories themselves are heartbreaking, and there is no doubt in my mind that the stories he tells are at least inspired by true events, and that breaks my heart even more. Alexie's unique voice, sarcastic sense of humor, and well-developed, unique cast of characters add to his engrossing plots to make unforgettable books. True Diary is no exception to that. True Diary is told from Junior's POV, and you can't help but feel sympathy for Junior right away. He was born with water on the brain, after all, and that's enough to make anyone feel bad for you... or call you names, depending on if you're in high school or not. Ahh the best years of your life, high school is not. Junior tells a story of poverty, heartbreak, love, and loss. He explains life on the reservation and lets people know that it's not anything like most people would expect. Junior's story is an inspiration to all of us, regardless of our backgrounds, because he never lets anything get him down. He fights for himself, for an education, and for a life. That sets him apart from the others on the reservation, and they judge him even more because he has ambitions. But Junior doesn't give up... he never gives up. Junior gets angry because his reservation school textbook is over 30 years old. He throws the book and gets suspended. The teacher isn't mad at him, however, and after giving Junior a pep talk, Junior decides to go to an all white high school so that he can actually get a good education. Junior's parents are too poor to get him there on most days, though, and he ends up walking over 20 miles there and 20 miles back just to get an education. His best friend from the reservation, Rowdy, hates him for leaving, and Junior feels all alone in this new world. At the white high school, Junior experiences blatant racism from the students, but he quickly shows them that he won't take their crap, and he actually makes some really good friends. He tries to hide how poor he is, but they find out. Instead of judging him, they try to help him. Throughout the novel Junior evolves, and the reader goes on this emotional journey of growing up with him. You can't help but root for Junior, and when things go wrong, you cry for him. The book isn't too serious, though, because Alexie is wonderfully sarcastic. I was torn between laughing and crying throughout the whole novel. Every single character in the book is well-developed. There are no cookie-cutter types... at least not from my perspective. Everyone is dynamic and unpredictable. Alexie does a terrific job of showing that no one's life is what it seems. There are many surprises, both good and bad in this novel. Nothing is straight-forward because people's lives aren't straight-forward. We're all complicated, and it's clear that Alexie understands that. The pacing of the book is excellent, and there isn't a single dull moment. There are a lot of events that happen throughout the novel to keep the reader engaged, and when something tragic or hilarious isn't happening, then Junior is drawing cartoons of how he sees things, which is pretty funny. I really loved the addition of the drawings to the text. It made the book that much richer. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a book that you do not want to miss. If you haven't read the novel yet, then you are missing out. If you've never read anything by Sherman Alexie before, then I am sad for you. You must get this book. You must read it now.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian -by Sherman Alexie I admit it, I've ben in love with Sherman Alexie's writing for years. Especially his poetry. I don't know why it took me so long to read this book, but I now have and truly admit, I love it. Oh, there is a ** above, I'd best explain now, before I forget. I read this on my Kindle Fire, and there are several delightful illustrations, unfortunately, I could not expand them beyond postage stamp size, which is too bad, because they are wonderful. They are drawn by the protagonist, and add a great deal to the story. They should be seen full size. Mr. Alexie is a member of the Spokane Indian Tribe, and this is his story, with a few changes. The hero of the story, Arnold "Junior" Spirit, is a young man struggling to find himself, and decides to leave the reservation and attend a 'white' school in town. He is the only brown skinned student. And the poorest of the lot, but he has an upbeat attitude and earns acceptance from his white friends, and enmity from his Indian ones. This novel tells about those experiences, being half white while on the 'rez' and half Indian while at Reardon with a great sense of humor. Mr. Alexie is not afraid to tackle situations that the young people of today face, and he does it well. I can offer absolutely no hesitation in recommending this book. In fact, there are several study questions in the back, making this an ideal book for classroom reads. Arnold is a very likable protagonist, as are most of his friends. He is fourteen, hormones are beginning to rage through his veins, he's discovered girls, one in particular. He competes on the basketball court, and when Reardon plays Wellpinit, his old Indian school, he is booed and beaten by his ex teammates who think he's a traitor. The first game. The next game is a bit different. I laughed out loud in this book. Although I didn't cry, I was genuinely sad in a few places. I would love to have Arnold stop by for a visit, he's quirky, and fun, and not afraid of life. I strongly suspect Mr. Alexie is the same. I'd love to have him stop by for a visit, too. For a good read from twelve years on, buy and read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I think it would make a great movie. Would love to see Studio Ghibli do something with it!

This book was beautiful, funny, heartbreaking, and heartbreaking. I loved it more than I can express.

The word “Indian” conjures up images of men on horses and in buckskin pants, who live in teepees and are wild, untamed,and savage. The word “Indian” is not even politically correct anymore, now the term is Native American. People do not think of modern day Native Americans as much as the older Native Americans. A distant idea of reservations comes to mind when thinking of Native Americans now, but they are mostly gone from the public’s mind. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian looks at the world from an untapped and unexpected perspective of a teenaged Native American boy on a dirt-poor reservation. The Native American author’s past has influenced his writing of this book ,as most white authors would write about Native Americans in a historical context. Reading the book is overall an enjoyable experience. This book is rife with social commentary and observations about human nature which is what I enjoyed most.The immaturity of the main character is a bit off-putting, but fits with Arnold being a fourteen year old. The main character is likable and the reader wants to see his “coming of age” story end with a happy ending. The tone is light-hearted because Arnold has an unusual outlook on life and tries not to take anything seriously. Arnold is an artist who draws cartoons and there are pictures scattered throughout the book. They offer some comic relief and illustrate plot points and emotions. The drawings are very witting and clever as well as artistically pleasing. I choose this book from a list of books with a hero's journey to read alongside The Odyssey. As a freshman in an Enriched I did not recognize the author, but I was intrigued by the summary so I picked it over classics liked Alice in Wonderland, Siddhartha, and the Hobbit. Arnold’s hero’s journey is different than the classics but it has the same basic steps. I would not have read this book on my own. The unknown author and unappealing cover would not have drawn me to the book. The book is a textbook case of “don’t judge a book by its cover” because once I read the synopsis I was immediately interested with the story. There are few books that feature a modern Native American character, let alone a narrator so I was intrigued. As a whole, the book appeals to a younger audience and uses sarcasm, drawings and musings of the world to connect with them. This book draws you in with emotional connections to the character and once you get attached it is hard to put down.

Livré en très bon état

i loved this book so much!! it shows you another part of the Indian people who live in the US, and you can relate a lot with the main character.

Solo alla fine ci si rende conto che è un libro per teenagers. Comico, dolce amaro, visivo. Commovente, realistico e sognante

泣きました。笑いました。勇気をもらいました。日本語訳もいいですが、やはり英語で読んだほうが泣けるし、笑えるし、優気づきます。

Super schnell Lieferung, alles wie man es sich wünscht. Gerne wieder