The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

 

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. NY: Little Brown.

 

Arnie "Junior" is an indian living on the rez. His best friend is Rowan and he has been bullied his entire life. He was born with water on the brain and has a big head and a skinny body. Life has not been easy for Junior. His mom and dad love him. His mom is a recovering alcoholic and his dad is still drinking. His grandmother is a huge influence in his life. He loses it when he starts his freshman year when he opens his book and realizes his mother used the same book. He throws the book and it changes his life. He decides to go to the white school off the rez to get a better education, which is 22 miles away. He faces new challenges about fitting in, finding his way to school and back. During that year he loses his grandmother to a drunk driver. His sister to a drunk starting a fire. He also loses his dad's best friend to alcohol and fighting. He still continues on and strives to do better.

I really can see how this book would raise a few eyebrows but even with the bad language and controversial issues I loved this book. I really wanted Arnie to succeed. It made me really think about what life if like for Indians on the reservations.  This would most definitely be a book for grades 11-12 due to the nature of the content.

This book really looks at Havighurst's theory of developmental task of adolscents undergoing changing relationships with parents.  Arnie being able to talk to his parents and ask them to take him to a different school, really shows that his relationship with his parents is changing.