The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in Pick-a-Shelf

Nov 23, 2008 Luann rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2009, young-adult, shelf-a-thon1, fiction, audio

Wow, what an incredible example of voice! I really liked the main character, Arnold Spirit, aka Junior. His friend said, "You have a singular wit" and I think this describes him perfectly. All of the characters and things they experienced felt VERY real.

I listened to this in audio format - my first playaway! It was narrated by the author. Since the story is semiautobiographical, it felt very fitting to be listening to the actual author telling the story. But this is another book that I've missed ...more

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May 27, 2008 Misty rated it it was amazing

Shelves: award-winner-or-nominee, own, juvenile-ya, international-multicultural, read-in-2008

So far, even though the style took some getting used to, and the voice was slightly frustrating at first, I have to say this book reaffirms my love of Alexie. He is able to pull you along peacefully and then hit you with something so profound and utterly true that I swear you almost gasp.

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Nov 22, 2016 Cora rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, native-americans, young-adult, school, washington-state, high-school, boys, native-american-author, american-author

I really enjoyed this story about a Native American high school freshman that transfers out of his reservation school to an all white high school in a town nearby. The story is treated very realistically, no problem has easy answers and almost none of the characters are all good or all bad. The hard parts of Junior's life are tempered by his humor. I found myself rooting for him both to escape the poverty of the reservation and to remain connected to it and its culture. I found the book containe ...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Joanna rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, audiobooks, 2011-read, rws-2011-fall

Everyone but me seems to love Sherman Alexie and to love this book. I enjoyed hearing the author read his own book. He has a nice voice and gives a good cadence to the text.

This is my second try with this author. At the recommendation of a classmate many years ago, I read Indian Killer, which is about as different from The Absolutely True Diary, but, while I can see the underlying strength of the author, the book didn't really move me.

Here again, the book didn't really do much for me. It was a s ...more

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Aug 04, 2013 Rachel N. rated it liked it

Junior is a freshman starting high school when he decides he wants to get a better education than he can get on the reservation so he begins going to school in Reardan, a town 22 miles away. Junior frequently ends up walking or hitchhiking to school because his parents don't have gas money. The story is interspersed with comics drawn by Junior. This is essentially the story of how Junior doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere, he is treated like a betrayer on the resrvation but he isn't white eit ...more

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