The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, 2007

In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, Junior is a high school freshman who has chosen to leave his home school on the Spokane Indian Reservation and attend Reardan, an all-white school in a more prosperous area.  Junior suffers from a disease he dubs, “water on the brain,” and the physical effects of this disease have made fitting in hard for him at his old school.  Eventually, a conversation with a former teacher convinces Junior to seek other horizons.  Junior’s decision is viewed as betrayal by his fellow Spokane Indians, and even his best friend gets angry and shuns him.  Things aren’t much better at Junior’s new school, where the racist, white, farming population views him as a threat and an outsider.  Despite the challenges of feeling accepted by neither group, Junior perseveres and eventually gains the respect and friendship of some students at Reardan.  Where Junior really earns the chance to shine is on the basketball court.  Twice, Junior’s new team faces off against his old one, and Junior goes head-to-head with his former best friend.  Junior also experiences several tragedies in his family life, all of which center around alcohol use.  

This novel would work well in middle school classrooms, although some discussion of masturbation occurs and could be potentially problematic.  Alcohol and abuse also play a role in the plot, and for this reason, the book might be best suited to 8^th grade students or students who are mature enough to handle such heavy and controversial topics.  Themes of family, identity, friendship, and acceptance would appeal to most readers, and the basketball scenes would be of special interest to students in athletics.  The fact that this novel also uses cartoons and drawings frequently makes the book more exciting and accessible to readers of varying strengths and ages.