The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian

 Ashley Laake

LSSL 5385 01

Young Adult Literature Book Review

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alexie, Sherman. 2009. The Absolutely true diary of a part time indian. New York: Little, Brown

 Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-0316013697

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Junior, a fourteen year old Spokane Indian, loves to draw cartoons.  After getting wise advice from his teacher, Junior decides he wants to leave his school on the reservation.  It is not a decision that will be supported by others on the reservation, even his best friend, Rowdy.  Despite being scared, Junior attends an all white school where he faces new challenges and encounters new friendships and new activities.  

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This is a classic coming of age story which embraces very real parts of being a teenage boy.  Junior, the protagonist, faces many challenges which makes his character so relatable.  He faces many physical problems because he was born with too much cerebrospinal fluid on his brain.  He wants to fit in with his new classmates despite having no money.  His best friend becomes his worst enemy when he decides to leave the school on the reservation to attend an all white school named Rearden.  

A sense of wanting to belong is seen in the cartoons he draws.  “Are you poor?” He illustrates several responses to this in his cartoon.  Also another cartoon shows “How to pretend you're not poor.” Many of the cartoons do a great job of showing awkward coming of age teen moments.  However, many are used for comical purposes.  For example, his exaggerated illustration of Mr. P, his teacher.  He is shown weighing fifty pounds, but only when he is carrying his briefcase.  

While the storyline illustrates many problems that the Spokane Indians face living on the reservation, the author keeps the story comical.  One example of this is the “Unofficial And Unwritten Spokane Indian Rules of Fisticuffs.”  The author uses parallelism and repetition here to build on each rule which will be sure to bring a laugh to the reader.  “If someone insults you, if you think somebody is going to insult you, if you think somebody is thinking about insulting you” shows you how prone people on the reservation are to fighting.  The author has a talent for taking something serious and making it lighthearted and fun.  Junior’s dad gets stopped by a police officer in Rearden for a DWI: “Driving While Indian.”  Despite the racial profiling example, the author changes the meaning of a well known acronym to inject humor.

This is an entertaining story, however it portrays serious issues.  Despite these issues, the reader is left with hope.  Hope is a strong theme throughout this novel.  Mr. P shows Junior that he still has hope.  Mr. P tells Junior, “You fought off that brain surgery, You fought off all the drunks and drug addicts.”  He shows Junior that he never gave up.  Because of this, Junior takes the step in a new direction to change his future despite uncertainty of the unknown.  

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

2007 Winner, National Book Awards for Young People's Literature

2008 Best Book for Young Adults

Booklist: "Alexie's humor and prose are easygoing and well suited to his young audience."

HornBook, STARRED REVIEW: "The line between dramatic monologue, verse novel, and standup comedy gets unequivocally-and hilariously and triumphantly-bent in this novel."

Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW: "Nimbly blends sharp with unapologetic emotion....fluid narration deftly mingles raw feelings with funny, sardonic insight."

Publisher’s Weekly STARRED REVIEW: "A Native American equivalent of Angela's Ashes."

5. CONNECTIONS

Other books with similar themes: 

Yang, Gene.       American Born Chinese     ISBN 9781250811899

Spinelle, Jerry.   Stargirl                                ISBN 9780439444439

Lead a class discussion by using some of the questions on the Celebrating Kindness website: https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2020-06/HS%20Lesson-We%27re%20All%20Different%20Alike.pdf

Students can construct their own cartoon to depict a theme in this novel. 

Students can do an inquiry research project about Indian reservations.