The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie

Born poor and with life-threatening hydrocephalus, Arnold "Junior" Spirit shocks doctors by surviving brain surgery. But his enormous skull, lopsided eyes, huge feet, profound stuttering, and frequent seizures make the brain-damaged lad the target of much abuse on the Spokane Indian reservation where he lives.

Protected by a formidable friend, the book-loving artist survives childhood. And then—convinced his future lies of the rez—the bright 14-year-old enrolls in Reardan High School 22 miles away, where the only non-Caucasian is its Indian mascot.

An unabridged recording on 5 CDs (4 hours, 51 minutes), read by the author.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Humor, Book Club, Banned Books

5 pages, Audio CD

First published September 12, 2007

About the author

Sherman Alexie is a Native American author, poet, and filmmaker known for his powerful portrayals of contemporary Indigenous life, often infused with wit, humor, and emotional depth. Drawing heavily on his experiences growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, Alexie's work addresses complex themes such as identity, poverty, addiction, and the legacy of colonialism, all filtered through a distinctly Native perspective.
His breakout book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, is a semi-autobiographical young adult novel that won the 2007 National Book Award and remains widely acclaimed for its candid and humorous depiction of adolescence and cultural dislocation. Earlier, Alexie gained critical attention with The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, a collection of interconnected short stories that was adapted into the Sundance-winning film Smoke Signals (1998), for which he wrote the screenplay. He also authored the novels Reservation Blues, Indian Killer, and Flight, as well as numerous poetry collections including The Business of Fancydancing and Face.
Born with hydrocephalus, Alexie faced health and social challenges from an early age but demonstrated early academic talent and a deep love for reading. He left the reservation for high school and later studied at Washington State University, where a poetry course shifted his path toward literature. His mentor, poet Alex Kuo, introduced him to Native American writers, profoundly shaping his voice.
In 2018, Alexie faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment, which led to widespread fallout, including rescinded honors and changes in how his work is promoted in educational and literary institutions. He acknowledged causing harm but denied specific accusations. Despite the controversy, his influence on contemporary Native American literature remains significant.
Throughout his career, Alexie has received many awards, including the PEN/Faulkner Award for War Dances and an American Book Award for Reservation Blues. He has also been a prominent advocate for Native youth and a founding member of Longhouse Media, promoting Indigenous storytelling through film.
Whether through poetry, prose, or film, Alexie’s work continues to challenge stereotypes and elevate Native American voices in American culture.

Reviews

[Jess]

2018 update - with all of the women coming forward with allegations of sexual harassment from Alexie, I'm no longer comfortable with the glowing review I originally wrote. I still think the book is fantastic, but I don't think the same of its author, and I can't promote his writing with any enthusiasm. I'll leave the original review below.
______________________________

I kinda got on the Sherman Alexie bandwagon, as an undergrad, when all freshmen were required to read his The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven. I liked it. Put it next to Plato’s Republic and it was pretty damn exciting. But I didn’t go out and gobble up all this other books. Plus I’m not the hugest fan of short stories. But you know me, I’m a sucker for YA. And for YA that everyone’s been raving about. And that wins the National Book Award.

Here’s one of my favorite things about the book: almost everything that makes you laugh is also heartbreaking. This in no way makes it less funny, or less sad. It’s both, perfectly, at once. Just like the times when Junior is heartbroken but can’t. stop. laughing.

Also, Junior is a book kisser.

I grabbed my book and opened it up.
I wanted to smell it.
Heck, I wanted to kiss it.
Yes, kiss it.
That’s right, I’m a book kisser.
Maybe that’s kind of perverted or maybe it’s just romantic and highly intelligent.

While it certainly packs a punch, it’s a quick, engaging read and I think it would be equally engaging to high schoolers and adults. It’s one I could pick up and read through again, if I didn’t have so many others waiting for me.

Also, the 1 and 2 star reviews on Amazon are pretty diverting. “The protagonist is too similar to all of those annoying protagonists in young adult fiction today,” says the 1 star. Yes, they’re all so annoying aren’t they? They’re not, you know, struggling with figuring out who they are and what their place is in the world. They don’t have problems with friends or family or school or themselves. They’re simply annoying. Oh, teenagers. Both reviews pick on the Catcher in the Rye similarities, but honestly I never thought of Catcher until Junior mentioned it on his list of favorite books. Along with The Grapes of Wrath. And Feed. And Fat Kid Rules the World. And Invisible Man. And some others that I haven’t read. But really, I was more struck by the inclusion of Steinbeck and Ellison than the others - you have poverty and you have race, pretty squarely represented. Issues that are much more emphasized, I would say, than any similarities to Holden.

[Miranda Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community."

Junior, a teenager on the Spokane Indian Reservation (the "rez"), spent his entire life trying to blend in.

He was a smallish kid who used to have seizures. He was picked on and bullied almost constantly.

And then...something snapped.

"There are all kinds of addicts, I guess. We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away."

Junior realized that he was going nowhere fast and the only way to get out was to literally...get out.

He transfers to an all-white rural school (with a lovely Indian mascot) and everything changes.

Well...sort of.

He's still hated at his old school but now instead of being picked on for his size and health issues, he gets to be picked on for being a traitor.

But no matter what is said or what is thrown at him, Junior decides that he will make it out there. No. Matter. What.

"If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing."

Overall - I liked this book and that makes the drama with the author all the more disappointing.

Junior was funny and crude and hilarious and above all, real. So very real.

"I was studying the sky like I was an astronomer, except it was daytime and I didn't have a telescope, so I was just an idiot."

Sometimes, you wish the authors could live up to the characters they write.

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[Brina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a short novel labeled young adult but more appropriate for adult audiences. A mere 230 pages including comic sketches, Alexie details the plight of Arnold aka Junior, a 14 year old Spokane Indian living on a reservation. Born with brain damage to alcoholic parents, Junior was never given a chance by anyone to succeed. It did not help that in his tribe, no one left the reservation. The Spokane Indians would spend their entire lives on the "rez" in poverty. Most kids would attend more funerals mainly alcohol related by the one they start high school than most adults do in a lifetime. But Arnold wanted something more. Arnold wanted a chance at achieving his dreams.
A quarter of the way into his freshman year of high school, Arnold tells his parents he would like to attend Reardan High School 22 miles away. Just like that, his parents agree to this request even though they realize that it will be a hardship on them. Most of the time, his parents have no money to get him to school and he hitchhikes. Yet, Arnold is determined to succeed even if it means being labeled white by his tribe including his best friend Rowdy and Indian or outsider by the rest of his school.
Arnold had two things going for him- his brains and basketball. His coach took notice of him and placed him on varsity as a freshman. Earning the respect from head jock Roger and head brain Gordy as well semi- girl friend Penelope, Arnold slowly becomes part of Reardan's inner circle. Through his good grades and stellar play on the basketball court, the other students do not label Arnold as "that Indian kid" by the end of the school year.
Filled with teenage angst and dealing with mature themes such as death to loved ones and alcoholism, this book has been banned in many communities. Despite the comics that made me laugh, this is not a book that I would want my kids to read until they are mature enough to handle it. Yet, this is a powerful book for adults, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a glimpse into contemporary life on an Indian reservation, which is unfortunately not only the glitz of the casinos that we hear about. Alexie from this short book appears to be a gifted writer, as this won a notable book award. I look forward to reading more of his works, as well as his documentary film Smoke Signals.

[Jodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has sort of been on my radar, and yesterday I saw it on one of my student's desk. I excitedly asked him what he thought of it, and his face lit up. He told me he had just finished it and repeated, "It was a really good book" about three times, with the most genuine smile I've seen from this kid all year. When I told him it was on my list of books I wanted to read, he handed it to me and said, "take it." Huh? Then he showed me the sticker on the front cover that said, "FREE BOOK! Read and Release." He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm supposed to pass it on." As it turns out, there is a "Whatcom Reads" program, and this title is circulating throughout the county. The whole idea is that you read it and pass it, and I had the good fortune of being handed this beautiful book. (The fact that one of my students "passed" it makes it that much cooler.) I sat down on my couch tonight and laughed and cried and wished there was someone here (besides the cats) to share it with. I thought it was amazing.

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooo... what do I know about Indians (aka Native Americans)? Well, apparently the average white American knows very little about them and, whether that's true or not, I can confirm that the average Brit knows NOTHING about them. That would include me. Or it would have included me before I read this book.

This book was one of the biggest eye-openers ever. A very funny, kinda sad, eye-opening experience. You see, Arnold Spirit was born on an Indian reservation and raised amongst Indians and educated in Indian schools... and his life really just sucks. Big time. If the author didn't carry this story off with such witty humour, it would simply be a FML rant about poverty, death, alcoholism, abusive parents and just the sense that Hope is not even living in the same dimension as Native Americans.

The fact that all the book covers for this are incredibly childish is very misleading. It becomes apparent when you're reading it that the cover is a picture of Arnold's doodles that he does to entertain himself and to avoid going completely insane... but this is not a kid's book. In fact, I think it will be much more appreciated by the older end of the young adult audience and, of course, adults themselves. It's an education as well as an entertaining story.

I suppose that ultimately this book is about overcoming obstacles and finding hope in the darkest places (I obviously should write cheesy taglines for a living), or even just a bit of humour.

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the bare face of it, this the story of a brain damaged at birth, Native American boy escaping 'the Reservation' by attending an all-white school in a town 22 miles away. Told in shot episodic chapters in the first person, this diary-like story takes a frank and comical look at life in the Reservation communities and contrasting it with life in a neighbouring well-off White community. And this is most certainly a sometimes wonderful, and sometimes heartbreaking coming of age tale of boy having to move away from the safety and insularity of the world he knows, to try and build his own future.

The image above is a still from Ryan Hopkinson's (see You Tube) movie trailer school project on this very book!
As a European reading this book it very much comes across as a damning account of how America has been treating its native peoples for more than a century and half, and what that treatment has done to pretty much obliterate generations of Native Americans. Like someone in the book says they were originally put in the Reservations to die out, but there still there! An utterly superb book, utterly superb. 8.5 out of 12. One of the saddest thing about this book was the lack of tradition on the Reservation, especially when I realised that that is indicative of reality for the Native American peoples, because of decades in Reservations :(

2022 read

[Robin Hobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audio book. The version I had was from my library, and is, I believe the tenth anniversary edition.
It was read by the author.

I started out listening to this on my own. I like having a story running in the background while I'm doing routine tasks. But very soon I saw that my husband Fred was also closely tuned into the story. So I timed my listening times so that we could enjoy it together. And enjoy it we did.

I loved Alexie's voice and inflection for this telling. I loved that he sometimes chokes up as he's reading his own words. Writers do that, even years later. There are parts of our own books that we can't get through without a tear or two.

There were moments that made both Fred and I laugh out loud, and times when we completely stopped whatever hand project we were doing to listen intently. Exhilarating triumphs and heartbreaking moments, all told in a simple style.

My grand daughter (16) came in while we were listening. "Oh, I know this one. We read it in school. I loved it." (How often do you hear that about a required reading book?)

I am years late coming to this work, obviously. I'm sure you've heard that it's the first person tale of a young man growing up on an Indian reservation in Washington state. It's so much more than that.

I recommend this, especially in the audio book format with Sherman Alexie reading his own work. I recommend that you listen to the extra bit at the end of it, too. I think it would make a great story for a family to share at home in the evening or on a long car ride.

Excellent, excellent book.

[carol. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing about prejudice is that sometimes, you miss out. Literary fiction and I don’t get along at all, but at some point, the universe kicked The Absolutely True Diary my way and ten years later, here it was, perfect for an afternoon with a nasty cold; distracting and cathartic. Honestly, the edition with the forward from Markus Zusak (The Book Thief) said it best: “When a person reads this book, they will laugh in the following ways:

lightly
excitedly
mournfully
raucously
knowingly
loudly
softly
tearfully
surprisingly
lovingly
angrily
admiringly."

A mostly true description, just like the book. Diary uses the format of journal and sketchbook of Junior, private name Arnold Spirt. He shares with the reader his matter-of-fact observations about growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, introducing the reader to many of the unique challenges people living there face. As Zusak notes, the tone is hilarious, sometimes bitingly so.

“You can’t teach at our school if you don’t live in the compound. It was like some kind of prison-work farm for our liberal, white, vegetarian do-gooders and conservative, white missionary saviors.”

His own life takes a dramatic turn as he enters high school and decides to leave the rez to go twenty-two miles away to an all-white school.

“What was I doing at Reardan, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other Indian in town?”

It is unapologetically not sensitive in language, which, to be honest, does more to lend the realism of junior high than most books. Alexie and I were likely contemporaries; while we didn’t have quite as many fights at my schools, I recognize the physicality of his description. Sadly, an interplay where Junior is called ‘fag’ is also very familiar. Alexie does an excellent job, however, of layering this homophobia into a couple of complicated and deep relationships with male friends.

“I had the sudden urge to hug Gordy, and he had the sudden urge to prevent me from hugging him. ‘Don’t get sentimental,’ he said. Yep, even the weird boys are afraid of their emotions.’

There is also a lot of loss and grief intermixed with the humor. It is one of the many ways Alexie helps educate the reader, indirectly acknowledging the health inequities Native Americans on the reservations face. As Junior notes,

“I’m fourteen years old and have been to forty-two funerals.”

The language, I think, is very fourteen year-old appropriate. The observations are devastatingly true, but I am not completely confident of them coming from a young person’s brain, no matter how genius. But I’m okay with that.

What the reader may or may not be okay with is Alexie’s history as using power inappropriately over women who were seeking professional connections or assistance. Personally, I don’t feel it is so egregious as to distract from the writing. Though he has stated he has issued appropriate apologies, the most public of the cases comes from an accuser who has her own complicated relationship with publicity and identity; in short, it’s complicated.

“So I draw because I feel like it might be my only real chance to escape the reservation. I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats.”

[peachygirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, poignant and heartbreaking, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian is a must read for everyone.
Dealing with hydrocephalus, poverty, constant bullying and frequent deaths in a family of drunks, Arnold aka Junior goes through an undeniably hard life growing up in the Spokane Indian Reservation. The journey of this 14 year old trying to manifest his dreams into reality by shifting to an all white school *after alienating his bestfriend and the entire community* and gearing up to face a judgemental racist society is nothing short of inspiring. After a considerable period of struggle, fistfights and basketball games, he carves a place for himself in the school earning the respect of his peers, albeit grudgingly. And gets his bestfriend back. Fin.
I enjoyed the laconic writing and the comic sketches were endearingly witty.
Enmeshing adult themes in an adolescent background, this book is a real page-turner.

[TK421 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confession time: I’ve been a bit of a snob when it comes to YA literature. The idea that this type of writing was beneath me, not able to give me what I wanted from a story were my main excuses. I’m not going to say that YA fiction is ever going to replace “literary” adult fiction, but I will say that it has opened my eyes. THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN is a magnificent read. The story centers around Junior, a Spokane Indian, and his family who live on a reservation. To be honest, I was leery coming into this book. I had read FLIGHT and RESERVATION BLUES and INDIAN KILLER and THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN, and I was expecting little from this book. Mainly I read it because it won the National Book Award. But Sherman Alexie makes a very straightforward narrative electrifying. Being a South Dakotan, I understand the tenuous relationship between Whites and Native Americans, and to think that I would be moved by a Spokane Indian was never really plausible in my mind. Alexie moved me. His words and ideas and descriptions gave me an insight that I previously lacked. Reading Junior’s story gave me the chance to see what it is like to know as a young person what your future will hold if raised on a reservation. The word bleak does not adequately describe these people’s futures; it is much darker than that. But Alexie doesn’t just paint a grim picture of reservation life; he also illuminates the aspects of life that should be cherished within all colors: family and hope. Junior doesn’t have a lot of hope, at first. But as the story progresses, his family provides him with the needed hope to see that the borders of the reservation are meant to be broken, that it is okay to explore life without knowing what the outcome is going to be. At times hilarious, heart-wrenching, and provocative, this quick read is anything but simple. Well, done, Mr. Alexie, well done. (Plus, who doesn’t like reading about basketball every once in awhile in a novel?)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

[Julie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Road Trip 2020

Current location: Washington

After I finished Crazy Brave for my “Oklahoma” pick this year, I had the revelation that a woman who reads as much as I do should have far more books by Native writers under her belt. (Don't call me “woke,” or I'll throw a water balloon at you).

Sure, I've read John Ehle's Trail of Tears and Scott O'Dell's middle grades fiction that often features a Native protagonist. I also included John Neihardt's Black Elk Speaks for my “South Dakota” pick this year. But, all of these books were written by adventurous white men, not Native writers.

In my twenties, I discovered Leslie Marmon Silko, and in my thirties, Louise Erdrich, but I can't claim much more than that.

So, I've been delighted to find two new-to-me Native writers from the West coast of the U.S., Alaskan Inupiaq poet, Joan Naviuyuk Kane (I was not lost without you, only torn from myself) and Sherman Alexie, an American humor writer from the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington state.

Sherman Alexie is an interesting combination; he's a man who's comfortable expressing both reverence and humor with his confusing status of being, among other things, a “part-time Indian.”

He can also write some potty humor, as he proves, frequently, in this YA bromance of his:

"I love that tree,” I said.
“That's because you're a tree fag,” Rowdy said.
“I'm not a tree fag,” I said.
“Then how come you like to stick your dick inside knotholes?”
“I stick my dick in the girl trees,” I said.
Rowdy laughed his ha-ha, hee-hee avalanche laugh.

My 12-year-old's current middle school has their 8th graders read this as part of their language arts curriculum and I want to say: too young, too early. I can't imagine handing this to my middle child next year. The protagonist himself is in the middle of his freshman year of high school in the story and he's not the least bit bashful about whacking it, and whacking it good. If he were in training for the masturbating Olympics, lets just say he'd be whacking for gold, and he'd probably win it.

As a mom and former language arts teacher, I'm scrunching up my face at anyone but the 14+ crowd reading this, but I think that, given the right audience, this is a fun, and surprisingly, informative read.

It's a novel, not a memoir, but based on what I read of Sherman Alexie's background, it's largely autobiographical. I appreciate Mr. Alexie's struggle to find success in combining his Native background with what he calls his “immigrant status.” Is that mind-blowing, or what, to think of Native Americans in the United States thinking of themselves as “immigrants?”

Mr. Alexie's protagonist, Arnold Spirit, tells us, “Reservations were meant to be prisons, you know? Indians were supposed to move onto reservations and die. We were supposed to disappear.”

How depressing to me, to think that we once relegated our Native brothers and sisters to the equivalent of prisons (and alcohol and suicide, too). So much of the Native spirit has been killed, and yet. . . that spirit is here, combined with something new. Sherman Alexie's a funny writer who's a hybrid version of what was, and what might be.

This book makes me feel excited by the prospect of new, Native fiction (masturbating protagonists optional).

[Jonas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Incredible. Gut-wrenchingly sad. Laugh out loud funny. Inspiring. Eye opening. A must read.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can credit Junior with this much; he's not a complainer. Not really. I mean, sure he was born with an enormous head, gigantic feet, crazy eyes, ten more teeth than normal, a stutter, and a lisp . . . . but hey, have you ever seen the guy's cartoons? They're great! Junior isn't the most popular kid on his reservation but he does all right. That is, until the day he snaps after finding his mother's maiden name in an old junky geometry book. Oddly, the teacher he lobs the book in the face of isn't angry. He just tells Junior in no uncertain terms that it would be in his own best interest to leave the reservation. Some way, somehow, he has to get off and make something of himself. Junior's no fool. He's perfectly aware that leaving the rez will be seen as some kind of a betrayal to his friends and neighbors, but the next thing you know he's applied to Reardan. Reardan is a rich, white school where the only Indian is the school mascot. Joining Reardan means that Junior has figure out what he wants from the world, what he needs from his family, and what he should do with his life.

As for the writing, it's top notch. This kind of subject matter requires a seemingly effortless mixture of laughter and tears. Sherman Alexie manages to deliver this, so that a funeral for Junior's grandmother is just as full of outright guffaws as it is pain and distress. Alexie also knows how to wield a delightful one-liner. "PCs are like French people living during the bubonic plague." Or about a bulimic girl who tries to cover it up the odor with gum, "She just smells like somebody vomited on a big old cinnamon tree." Finally, when Junior talks about cartooning as an art, he isn't dinking around. I enjoyed the section where he explained that "If you speak and write in English, or Spanish, or Chinese, or any other language, then only a certain percentage of human beings will get your meaning. But when you draw a picture, everybody can understand it."

Since Part-Time Indian received the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, it has gotten its own fair share of attention. This is great since I felt that cartoonist Ellen Forney clearly needs as much of it as she can get. Forney has created the cartoons that appear throughout Part-Time Indian, charged with the task of making them seem as though they are from the pen of Junior himself. Alexie reportedly requested Ms. Forney specifically for this book. She's not the first cartoonist to come to mind when you picture adolescent teen boy suffering, but credit Alexie for his insight. Somehow her unabashed sexuality and love of the funny works when you tone it down just right. She's definitely reigned in her wilder tendencies (a quick glance at her book I Love Led Zeppelin will confirm this) but she's managed to do it without stifling herself or her natural talent. Who knew she could even draw happy pegasuses and smiley clouds? Not me. I also appreciated the subtlety in some of her cartoons. At one point we look at an image of Junior's best friend Rowdy as he's reading his comic books. In the picture Junior has drawn a big angry face yelling, "What're you drawing??" with the explanation, "Rowdy . . . He hates it when I draw him! Never lets me finish." If you look at the picture carefully, though, you can see the outlines of Rowdy's real features hidden beneath the cartoony angry face.

I may as well just start lobbing this book at the heads of the teens I see entering my library. Anything to get them awake and noticing its existence. My objections are few and my praise strong and clear. A great title and well worth the hype it has been receiving. Go forth, my children, and read it all up. You'll feel better after you do.

[Amora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back when I was a freshmen in high school I was given this book by my English teacher to read over the weekend for an assignment. I ended up finishing the whole novel in under a day and I loved it. I even remember giving it multiple reads after finishing it. The use of illustrations by the protagonist made this book especially funny. The reason I am an avid book reader now is thanks to this book. I know my testimony isn’t the first of it’s kind and many others were turned into avid readers as a result of being introduced to this novel.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexie’s autobiographical YA novel features Junior, who escapes into comics (drawn in the manner of a kid, wonderfully, by Ellen Forney) from his often tragic life on the rez, particularly The Spokane Indian Reservation. It’s in a kind of diary format, and the “part-time Indian” part of the title refers to the move he makes to leave the rez school in Wellpinit to travel to an all-white school in Reardan, twenty-two miles away but it might as well be a continent away. That move, initated by a teacher who tells him to get out to save himself, separates Junior from both worlds.

Junior’s best rez friend is Rowdy, who protects him from being beaten up sometimes. In Reardan he also has makes a friend, Gordy, an also smart kid, and gets support from Roger, his basketball teammate, but he also has a (white) girlfriend named Penelope. Junior was born with Hydrocephalus, too much fluid on the brain, which has long time effects including seizures, vision problems, dental issues, and more. He gets beaten up a lot, there’s a lot of fighting on the rez, but Rowdy needs to make sure he doesn’t get hit on the head.

Along the way there are tragedies involving his best friend dog, Oscar, his sister who wants to write romance novels, his Dad’s best friend, Eugene that are somewhat balanced by Junior/Alexie’s laughter in the face of all things bad. You might laugh and cry on the very same page; sometimes it could happen in the same sentence! There’s a streak of rage in Alexie that runs deep. You find it in his novel Indian Killer, but it crops up everywhere, usually about the decimation of Indian culture and land appropriation, but he also has rage about the devastation of alcoholism, which continues to destroy lives everywhere, but disproportionately in Indian populations. The damage it does to Junior’s life is extensive, and he’s mad about it. And at the same time, Junior finds something to laugh about, sometimes hysterically, about these losses.

The epigraph for the book comes from Yeats: “There is another world, but it is in this one.” This idea works in various ways in this book. Many people don’t know the depression and poverty of Indian reservations, even today. That often sad world of the rez exists in the larger world of the U. S., largely invisible. But the world of the spirit also exists within the world of the rez, a world of hope, of escape from disabilities, brutality.

There’s a lot of laugh out loud humor in this book, often laughing at uncomfortable subjects, laughter amid tears. There’s hope in that laughter, but it’s comolicated, because you don’t want to make the mistake of thinking things are all right because of the jokes. But for Junior hope also comes packaged as books, Indian culture, basketball, friendship, family, even as he identifies the long sad history of the destruction of Indian culture in this country, and the rampant depression, the inadequate health care, the hunger, Junior’s various disabilities. There’s blame here for white America, but Alexie/Junior also blames Indians sometimes for their share of responsibility in taking itself down. Shared responsibility, collective rage.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian may not be for everyone. There may be a little too much sexual language for some readers, there’s a regular thread about masturbation in it. The language can at times be more graphic than in most YA books. The book sometimes substitutes jokes for deeper characterization, in places. He goes for the joke too much maybe, but the jokes are so good and painfully true! I loved reading this sad and funny book again with my class. It affirms the importance of self-expression through words, through comics, stories.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the same way that John Green and Jesse Andrews use humor to deal with heavy issues like cancer, Sherman Alexie uses a similar device to tackle a variety of difficult subjects. He hits racism, bullying, addiction, death, poverty, and other topics all through his narrator's great sense of humor and his hilarious cartoons.

I don't read a ton of YA stuff (although I sure have been lately!), but I try to at least hit the highlights. I think this is the best YA book I've read since The Knife of Never Letting Go. It took me into a world with a type of racism I honestly didn't know much about. It hits hard at times with dozens of quotable one-liners, but then Junior drops in a fart joke and it softens the blow a little bit.

I thought the humor was great and consistent throughout the entire book. The cartoons really add to the story and at times made me laugh out loud. This is a book you can read in one sitting, too, because the pages turn quickly with all of the drawings and short chapters.

You will cover just about every emotion you have while reading this. In fact, I should have just made this entire review out of emojis. It hits you right in the feels, man.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

" این‌جا از شمال کم و بیش در یک میلیون فرسخی اهمیت و از غرب در دو میلیارد فرسخی خوشبختی واقع شده..."

دنیا برای همه ی آدمها به ی اندازه بزرگ و دست و دلباز نیست اما در مقابله بعضی نژادها، مذهب ها، ملیت ها و...با شدت بیشتری نامهربون ترین و سرسخت ترینه!

جونیور، سرخپوست بلندپرواز کوچولو این واقعیت رو با تمام وجود درک کرد اما اجازه نداد سنگینی و اجبار این بی عدالتی، حق زندگی و تغییر رو ازش بگیره و اونو دچار سرنوشتی مشابه بقیه ی ادمهای قرارگاهش کنه،...تاوان این تغییر  و آرزوی قد کشیدن هم طرد شدن و  تعارض های درونی و بیرونیه، حسی که برای پسرک داستان هیچ غریب نبود :
" زندگی مبارزهٔ دائم بین فرد بودن و عضوی از اجتماع بودنه..."

این مبارزه، داستان زندگی پسری ه که از لحظه ی تولد با دنیا و مصائبش دست و پنجه نرم کرده و هر ضربه ای مصمم ترش کرده! رویاهای جونیور منو به نوعی یاد " ماهی سیاه کوچولو " ی صمد بهرنگی انداخت:

"  من می‌خواهم بدانم که، راستی راستی زندگی یعنی اینکه توی یک تکه جا، هی بروی و برگردی تا پیر بشوی و دیگر هیچ، یا اینکه طور دیگری هم توی دنیا می‌شود زندگی کرد؟..."

اگرچه تراژدی زندگی جونیور از جنس دیگه ای بود، اما رویای مشترکی با ماهی کوچولو داشتن؛ تلاش برای جنگجو موندن و تسلیم نشدن، دنبال کردن راه های پر پیچ و خم اما نا محدودتر، جاری شدن در عین واقع بینی و درک تمام محدودیت ها، همیشه الهام بخش و تحسین برانگیزه:

" گریه می‌کردم چون من تنها کسی بودم که آن‌قدر شجاع و دیوانه بودم که از قرارگاه بروم. تنها کسی بودم که به اندازهٔ لازم غرور داشتم. همین جور یک‌بند گریه کردم و گریه کردم چون می‌دانستم تصمیم گرفته‌ام هیچ‌وقت مشروب نخورم و هیچ‌وقت خودم را نکشم و وسط دنیای سفیدپوستان به‌دنبالِ زندگی بهتری باشم."

خنده های بی دلیل سرخپوست ها در اوج ماتم و پرداختن به دلخوشی های کوچیک وقتی دلمردگی و ناامیدی هرلحظه همراهشونه، سمبل واقعیت دنیای سرخپوست هاست، سبک زندگیشون و اجحافی که در حقشون میشه با رنگ، موسیقی و آوازی که کمک میکنه تا کمی این تاریکی مدام رو موقتا قابل تحمل کنن، معنا پیدا میکنه و جونیور در این بین باز هم راه جدیدی برای آرامش خودش دست و پا میکنه:

یک‌بند کاریکاتور می‌کشم. کاریکاتور پدر و مادرم؛ خواهرم و مادربزرگم؛ بهترین دوستم راودی؛ و هرکسی که توی قرارگاه هست. می‌کشم چون کلمات خیلی بوقلمون صفت‌اند. می‌کشم چون کلمات خیلی‌خیلی محدودند. اگر به انگلیسی یا اسپانیایی یا چینی یا هر زبانِ دیگری حرف بزنید و بنویسید، فقط درصد معینی از آدم‌ها منظورتان را می‌فهمند. اما وقتی تصویری می‌کشید، همه می‌توانند منظورتان را بفهمند.
خیال می‌کنم جهان مجموعه‌ای از سیلاب‌ها و سدهای شکسته است، و کاریکاتورهای من قایق‌های کوچک نجات‌اند.

این کتاب رو با دل و جان باید خوند، چون کتابیه که واقعیت غمناکش مرز بین اشک و لبخند رو بر میداره 🥲

[Em Lost In Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Looks like I am in minority here as this is a popular book with all those 4 and 5 star ratings and all those glowing reviews.

Let me start with a confession, when I'd came across this title I added it thinking that this would be about Indians of India but I was proved wrong within few pages of starting this. This book is about native American Indians. I was a teeny tiny disappointed but I kept on reading as it has one of my favorite themes i.e. coming of age.

Story is told from PoV of Arnold and is about fitting in.

“Life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community.”

So Arnold decides that he wants to read in a white school, to be friends with white kids, and somehow he feels that his community hates him for this. They saw it as he was backing out on whole Indian community and no longer a part of it. Honestly, I didn't see the "hatred" that Arnold felt except perhaps from his best friend and other guys of his age. Other than that his family was very supportive of his decision and other adults in the Reservation just accepted it as his decision.

While I get it why he is feeling like this (of course, when you are first one to do an odd things, you'd surely going to attract those stern and suspicious glares that made you feel that something is not right with you), what I don't get is "why". Reading in a white school won't make you an exceptionally bright kid or just turn you into a super intelligent kid. His teacher asked him to change school for better studies but the guy was too busy in trying to fit in, to make himself acceptable among the rich and shallow kids.

I think I am too dumb to get the meaning or the message that this book is trying to convey if there is any. No way I am recommending this to any of my friend.

[Marte · Rating 1 out of 5]

wow i absolutely hated that
(this is a rant written after i finished the book at 1am so don't judge me if it's incoherent and crude)

I absolutely hated The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Firstly, and maybe most notably, the amount of homophobic and ableist slurs in this book was appalling. The author and the main character are part of a marginalized group of people, but that does not mean that it's okay for them to throw around these words about other marginalized groups.

Secondly, the writing was terrible. I've never read the word 'yep' as many times as I did in this book, and I've also never read a published book with some much caps lock and so many exclamation points. That's usually reserved for the fanfictions I read and wrote when I was 12/13 years old.

Thirdly, the story is boring and repetitive. The story actually has some potential, I just think it would have been better in someone else's hands. Dear Sherman Alexie, there is this cool thing called 'showing instead of telling' and I think you should try it. I didn't have to read 57 times in this 200 page book that someone is a drunk, or that "every Indian has an alcohol problem". You could show those things in other ways. And about the deaths. I don’t think I've ever felt less emotional about deaths in literature than I did with these deaths. They happen so quickly and with so little context that they don't mean anything. The characters are also not fleshed out enough for us to care that they meet a terrible faith. And don't even get me started on Rowdy. He is a terrible person that I think (?) we're supposed to feel bad for because his father is abusive, and normally I would feel sorry for such a character. But here's the deal: Rowdy is just terrible. That's really his only defining characteristic. And he's physically strong, I guess. If Rowdy had a smidgen of personality outside of that, I would be invested in his story and I would actually feel sorry for him. But he doesn't, so I don't. Nothing in this book packs any meaning and I am angry about it.

The book made me uncomfortable in so many ways, and that is hard to do. I can stomach most things, and I'm not afraid of wank and shit, but holy fuck, this book made me feel icky. Reading the scene where Junior got an erection while hugging this fifty-year old school employee and describing how his hard dick rubbed against her body, while she cried because his sister had just died made me throw up in my mouth.

This last thing is something that I've noticed with some other male authors as well; I hate the way Alexie writes about women. Like, we get it, Junior is hard for literally every girl/woman that he isn't related to, but I got so sick of only learning that female characters were "still hot for a fifty year old", "kind of sexy for an old woman" and "how is it that a bulimic girl with vomit on her breath can suddenly be so sexy?". Junior is a horny teenager, but even the horniest of teenagers sometimes have other thoughts about people. And Sherman Alexie was not a teenager when he wrote this (although I don't know anything about his horniness at the time), and he should be able to write characters that do more for the story than being metaphorical pocket pussies. Although, I shouldn't be surprised after reading about all the allegations of sexual harassment made against him.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

2011 F.A.B. Bookclub pick # I.❤️. F.A.B.

There were several laugh out loud moments that caught me by surprise. There’s some very dry humor happening amongst this very serious and sometimes sad story. Ultimately, this is definitely a male adolescent type book, so keep that in mind. But the overall message was good: that you can rise above expectations and become more than expected, if you dare to be different and step outside the box.

Note: this book is listed as one of the most popular books to be banned, over the past decade, from both schools and private libraries. Support freedom of expression by reading and buying banned books! ❤️📚

[Bill Muganda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am sitting here just staring at the ceiling, I still can’t believe that this book packed such a punch. My sister just walked into the room and asked me what’s wrong and I threw the book at her…

“If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing.”

I don’t know if I will manage to convince anyone to at least attempt to pick this up, but I will give it my best.

The story is told from The First person by Junior, a 14-Year-Old Spokane Indian boy born with a variety of medical problems in a poverty ridden reservation that is heavily looked down upon by the fellow white men. And all hope for him to make it out and make something of himself doesn’t seem very possible. He then decides to take his hope back and fight for his future by drawing funny illustrations of his life experiences and going in an all-white farm school that will pose a challenge and some interesting surprises while facing major condemnation from his fellow Indians for going to the white school.

“I grabbed my book and opened it up. I wanted to smell it. Heck, I wanted to kiss it. Yes, kiss it. That's right, I am a book kisser. Maybe that's kind of perverted or maybe it's just romantic and highly intelligent.”

This book opened my eyes and rid me of my ignorance in a very clever and funny way. I was so impressed by how he made me laugh at some very serious topics and I would still feel uncomfortable but in a good way ( If that makes any Goddamn sense ) he wasn't afraid to tackle some social issues head on & incorporate humour effectively . You could see some aspects of Sherman in Junior and it was delightful to see all this through the eyes of a 14-year-old boy which is usually annoying. The naivety was executed so well, unlike Extremely Loud and Incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer where the 9-year-old main character’s voice was unbelievable for his age, this one felt genuinely real and because it was sort of written like a memoir it felt a lot more personal. I was angry at some prejudice, I cried at some bits and I laughed out loud at the dialogue. That just proves how connected I was especially for a Young Adult book. The main character was everything, I can still hear his voice and his funny personality jumping out of the pages. The illustrations by Ellen Forney elevated the book to a whole other level. Seriously, they were funny & interesting e.g.

Funny Stuff xD

“If you're good at it, and you love it, and it helps you navigate the river of the world, then it can't be wrong.”

Themes surrounding racism, abuse, hopelessness and struggle play out & some sections will literally twist your inside making you question what it is to be human. But the simplicity and comic relief of the book soften the punch of the book . In a way, I related to the main character, some aspects of his life really struck a cord. As a kid, I fought so hard to stand for my dreams and future by telling everyone that I would get out and grab the world by the balls and run with it. I would tell everyone what future I painted but as I grew up reality struck and I sort of fell into the same lifeless routine that kind of shrunk my dreams but I still had that little spark inside -that flame of hope- that I protected from the wind of reality. Junior never gave up and when he decided to be the first Indian to go to an all-white school for a better opportunity than the one provided back to his community, it was so brave and impactful that I was happy to see it told in a YA book. Poverty, Opportunity, Racial Segregation, Hope, Acceptance, Growth and so much more this book should be on everyone’s bookshelf.

If you have any recommendations for YA books that feature any Red Indian Character or Explore the culture or just any diverse YA books feel free to tell me:0 I feel like I need quality Young Adult fiction in my life.

Thanks for Reading :)

So until next time stay Bookish ;)

[Andrei Bădică · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nu contează ce ai vrut să faci. Contează ce ai făcut cu adevărat."
"Bine, tata are o problemă cu alcoolul și mama poate să fie excentrică uneori, dar fac sacrificii pentru mine. Se gândesc la mine. Vorbesc cu mine. Și, cel mai important, mă ascultă."

[Mohadese · Rating 4 out of 5]

"آن روز از سقوط کردن ترس و واهمه ای نداشتیم.
روزهای دیگر چرا، من از پرت شدن می ترسم. هر قدری هم بزرگ بشوم، فکر می کنم همیشه از سقوط کردن بترسم."

ساختارشکنی کتاب رو دوست داشتم! برخلاف تصوری بود که ازسرخ پوست ها داشتم، در واقع همه از بیرون در مورد اونها می نویسن و این بار یک سرخ پوست از سرخ پوست ها روایت میکرد. و علاوه بر اون جونیور شخصا فرد ساختار شکنی بود که با بیماری و معلولیتش و قبیله اش مبارزه میکرد.
اون قدر که میگن کتاب خنده دار نبود و اصلا گریه دار نبود، درست ترین وصف از نظر من "لذت بخش" عه! این کتاب برای من تلنگر بود، یه جورایی بهم یادآوری کرد که من قرار بود کارهای بزرگتری کنم! خلاصه این که حس خیلی خیلی خوبی نسبت بهش دارم :دی
تضادها و بلندپروازیای جونیور رو بسی درک میکردم، شاید ب خاطر یک جونیور شاید خفته درونی :]
نثر کتاب خیلی صمیمی و روان بود و قطعا اگر امتحان نداشتم یک روزه تموم میشد (من میگم بهش کتاب سریع)
کاریکاتورهای کتاب هم بسی دوست داشتنی بود.

[kian · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتابی بود که از اول تا آخرش، میتونی همزمان هم حس گریه و هم حس خنده داشته باشی.. هر دو با هم.....

گوردی کتابی به من داد نوشته ی یک نویسنده روس به نام تولستوی. تولستوی میگوید: «همه خانواده های خوشبخت شبیه هم اند. اما هر خانواده بدبخت، بدبختی خودش را دارد.» خب من دوست ندارم با یک نابغه روس وارد جروبحث شوم. چیزی که هست تولستوی سرخپوستها را نمیشناخته.یکی هم اینکه تولستوی نمیدانست عامل بدبختی تمام خانواده های سرخپوست، دقیقا یک چیز است؛ عرق خوری لعنتی!

[Jesse (JesseTheReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this! It was a rather interesting writing style. It had this very casual feeling to it. I will say that there are a few things here and there that irked me, but for the most part it was enjoyable. Full video review to come! :)

[Lindsey Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend this one! Trigger warnings for alcoholism, depression, and eating disorders.

[Alialiarya · Rating 4 out of 5]

آره، یوجین آدم مثبت‌اندیشی بود، حالا گیریم الکلی بود و آخرش نزدیک‌ترین دوستش با گلوله زد تو صورتش و کشتش
ص۲۱۳

مجبور بودم چند ساعت توی ماشین بشینم در گرما و بعدش هم رفتیم چشم پزشک و بعله طبق معمول هر بار چکاپ چشم لعنتی باز هم ضعیف‌تر شده و باید خدا تومن پول داد برای شیشه‌‌ی عینک. کتابم را خانه جا گذاشتم. داشتم بولانیو می‌خواندم‌. موسیو پین و محو جهانش بودم. توی گرما چشمم به یک کتابفروشی کودکان خورد و آن‌جا توانستم پیدایش کنم. لعنتی تمام روزم را ساخت. هم گرما را فراموش کردم هم چشمم را. یک طنز با شعور. کتابی که پشت شخصیت‌های نوجوان و جالبش به خوبی توانسته با زبانی ساده مفاهیم بزرگی را به نقد بکشد. رسیدن به کمدی و سیال ذهن برای برخورد آرام‌تر با جهان پوچ و سهمگین کتاب. هرچه کتاب جلوتر می‌رود با کمدی و بخش سیاه‌اش آشناتر می‌شویم. بعضی کتاب‌ها با روز خواندنشان در یاد می‌مانند. در یادم خواهد ماند به نشان روزی که هوا گرم بود و فهمیدم چشمانم باز ضعیف شده اما همش بخاطر جونیور داشتم می‌خندیدم. و البته ناراحت بودم

پسرک جایی در کتاب مراسم ختم مادربزرگش را این‌گونه شرح می‌دهد که می‌توان کتاب را نیز این‌گونه شرح داد: بامزه و مسخره و غم‌انگیز بود

[Aj the Ravenous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 well deserved stars!

This review contains helpful spoilers. :)

This book authentically tells us about the consequences of racism, stereotyping and isolation in the eyes of a 14 year old boy, Arnold Spirit Jr., a native Indian American who ironically suffered 14 years of bullying in the hands of his fellow tribesmen in their reservation. It's funny how Arnold only started to believe in what he can do and be accepted when he transferred to a school outside their reservation where all students except for him and their mascot are white. Though at first, he suffers derision and all sorts of insulting stereotypes White Americans concoct about Indians, he slowly starts earning friends, a pretty white semi-girlfriend and even a slot in the varsity basketball team. Even when his new friends discover that Arnold's family is poor, they do not shun him. In fact, it is his fellow tribesmen who rejected him for transferring and leaving them, calling him names like apple (red in the outside but white in the inside-a part-time Indian as indicated in the title).

The most ironic thing about this book is how Arnold humorously and comically narrates his story in his diary. Because even though he's already talking about his terrible and painful experiences in life such as the death of a family member, his poverty, and the lifelessness of the people in their reservation, he relates them as indifferently and as jokingly as he can that you wouldn't know whether you'll laugh or cry. He even makes sketches and drawings that make you crack up and forget that what he's actually telling is a very sad thing.

It's also mystifying how a death of someone can unify a people, making them forget differences and ill feelings which was exactly how Arnold came to feel that he is still one with his tribe and that even if this is true, it doesn't mean that he cannot belong to other tribes anymore. In fact, he realizes that he belongs to many tribes of the world (tribe of book lovers, of basketball lovers, of travelers, of dreamers, etc.)

The manner by which the story is written to me is also very genuine as if everything is coming from an actual 14 year old American-Indian boy and I give credit to the author and the cartoonist for that.

I strongly recommend every American to read this book. In fact, I strongly recommend everyone to read this book because for some reason, I think everyone regardless of skin color at some point, has become a racist in its most general meaning. Most of us are guilty of stereotyping which is one of the main sub classes of racism and this is one great book that will remind us of our quick and easy, but often wrong judgment. ;)

[Brittany McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting, told in a fictional biographic style of a Native American reservation teen who is intelligent and gets the opportunity to go to school off the res with the white kids.

I grew up in Montana and around reservations, so the Montana comments had me laughing a lot. I don't think that other people can imagine (even myself, having grown up near and going onto reservations at times) what reservation life is like. One thing is for sure: alcoholism is a REAL thing that still affects many reservation families.

Being told through the "eyes" of a teenage boy with raging hormones, I would say that Alexie did a superb job of staying true to the realism of people's thoughts but maybe don't say aloud. There is crude humor and some disturbing scenarios that are talked about as normalcies, but this helps stay true to the realism of someone in that situation. It was both heartbreaking and hopeful for others to be able to shine in the world and find their light.

Favorite quotes:
"If every moment of a book should be taken seriously, then every moment of a life should be taken seriously as well."

"Can you imagine a place where white people were scared of Indians and not the other way around? That's Montana"

I would recommend it for a humorous teenage boy mind read for sure. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

[Whitney Atkinson]

I'm removing my rating & review for this book until I reread it because I don't think I was at an age where I could truly comprehend it, and I know the insensitive phrasing of my original review calling it unrealistic may have hurt and/or misled people who previously saw the review.