The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie) [#2]
Arnold Spirit Jr., known as Junior, is having one heck of a life. He was born 14 years ago with hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and a mouth that eventually grew 10 more teeth than the norm. As a result of his brain problems and the surgery that he had at 6 months of age to correct them, he has serious vision problems, a huge head, seizures, a stutter, and a lisp. His family is dirt poor, his father is an alcoholic.
But he is also a budding cartoonist, a Spokane Indian, a passionate, loving soul, and despite everything, an optimist.
In a whirlwind chain of events that starts when he realizes that his geometry text is 30 years old, loses his temper, and throws the book across the room, Junior enrolls the previously all-white high school in the town 22 miles away, loses and makes friends, becomes a basketball star, lands in the hospital, and experiences tragedy after tragedy among those he loves. And he still hangs onto his hopes through it all.
It sounds as though this should be a tragic, touching book - and it is. But it is also hilariously funny. It's illustrated throughout with drawings by Ellen Forney, which represent Junior's cartoons and drawings and add to the the book's charm and wit.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (review)
I just really wanted to give this kid a big hug, but he actually gets plenty of those. Despite all his family's problems, they love each other. But Junior takes everything to heart: I felt so terribly sad for him when he blames his sister's death on his own actions. And I felt really sorry for Rowdy, too. It's hard to imagine that the future holds anything much good for him. But Junior believes in him, and he knows the kid much better than I do, so maybe I shouldn't worry.
Some of the reviews on Amazon infuriated me. It's hard to imagine that there are still people in the world who think such a brilliantly affecting book should be avoided by young readers because there's discussion of masturbation - a subject near and dear to the heart of any 14-yr-old boy. Frankly, I think this book should be required reading for middle-schoolers: Junior is so engaging that his story will really bring home a lot of the issues surrounding modern Native Americans in the most effective way.
I liked this a lot: after I finished it, I went back and re-read all my favorite bits, and then started the whole book over again.
Other Reviews of This in 50books_poc:
by Sanguinity
by alias_sqbr
by were_duck