The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

This is another book I was assigned to read in class last semester and I am so glad I had the opportunity to read it when I did! There are a lot of super funny parts within the book and it made me laugh a lot while reading. Because we are all currently living in a pandemic, life can be pretty serious and depressing lately so it was really nice to have something that brought a little light into the darkness.

Sherman Alexie’s story is about a 14-year-old boy named Arnold (called Junior by his family and friends) who was born with a lot of health issues. Thankfully, he is relatively okay, super smart and is able to function almost perfectly. But, because of Junior’s illnesses, he is bullied a lot by other kids that live on the Spokane Reservation with him. However; he does have one saving grace and that is his best friend and protector, Rowdy. The beginning of our story focuses on introducing readers to Junior’s life, family and reservation. Readers quickly realize that Junior does not see a promising future for himself on the rez and wants to find a way out. So, with the help of an encouraging teacher, Junior makes the big decision to leave the reservation school and begin attending the white-only school in Spokane called Reardan.

I have come to the conclusion that this book is one of those that is completely torn between being really deep and touching while also being super immature and silly. Don’t get me wrong, I really had fun reading this book. But, I had a difficult time being able to really enjoy it because it felt so juvenile. The reason I had a hard time taking the book seriously is because it was written in a graphic novel type style, similar to Diary of a Wimpy Kid and things like that. While these books can be super wonderful, I just feel as though I have passed that level of reading. I will admit that some of the immature humor in the book did make me laugh, so maybe I am being a little too hard on it ;) At the same time, something really great about this story is that even though it is a really surface level read, there are so many serious and powerful emotions that are discussed within it. An example of this is Junior’s familial situation; both of his parents are poor, alcoholics who don’t really spend much time with Junior and his sister is a hermit who never leaves the basement of her parent’s house. Junior sees the flaws in all of his family members and not only forgives them for these things, but also realizes that he himself wants to be more than that. This was super incredible to me because when I think of 14-year-old kids, I don’t typically think of them as being so wise and selfless (no offense)! Themes of death and grief also play a role multiple times throughout this story and is really heartbreaking to read these things from a child’s perspective. Junior’s grandma and sister die, both in horrific ways, within the span of a school year. Thankfully, he deals with it and ends up growing as a person and becoming stronger than he already was. But, can you imagine having to go through THAT much trauma at the age of 14? I don’t believe I could have handled such hard losses at such a young age with as much grace and maturity as Junior.

Two other really big themes within this book are race and assimilation. Because Junior is a Spokane Indian who starts going to the all white school in town, it shakes up things for the students and even the teachers of Reardan High School. At first, Junior is picked on, much like he was at the reservation, by bigger kids and no one really wants to be friends with him. But, after Junior gets a spot on the Reardan basketball team and starts getting friendly with a popular girl in school, Penelope, things start to turn up and he actually becomes very well liked at Reardan. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his relationship with Rowdy and other people on the reservation. They all feel betrayed by Junior and they begin to treat him really poorly, sometimes brutally. Even though Junior is happy to be in a place where he can excel, he is sad to have lost his best friend Rowdy. These concepts were super interesting to read about within this book because it does not discuss assimilation the way that we normally think about it. The white kids at Reardan don’t force their culture onto Junior, but they actually share the similarities and differences between their worlds. There is an adjustment period but in the end, everyone treats Junior normally and with kindness and he is able to live in both worlds successfully at the end of the story. I couldn’t help but feel kind of sad regarding this plot point because I know that this is not often the reality for minorities in these situations. But, one can always hope and dream of a future where Alexie’s reality is the truth. One of my favorite quotes from the story ties into this idea of wanting to be accepted into a new group but also being accepted in the group that you came from.

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

I love this quote because it is so relatable, especially for a young kid trying to figure out their place in the world. Now that I’m older, I know it is important to be part of groups in adult life, such as a group of coworkers or a group of classmates. But, I also know that you can still be yourself while being in these groups and I hope that this lesson is what kids take away from this story when reading it. It is a hard but super crucial concept to understand in life.

My biggest takeaway from this book is that I really want to read more from Native American authors about Native American culture and life on the reservations. This is something I don’t know a lot about, so being able to learn a little bit from this book made me realize how much more I still need to learn. I am glad to have been given this insight, especially from a book! Don’t you just love when a book makes you realize something about yourself? That’s one of the reasons why I love them so much.

Final, Personal Opinion of the Book

I really enjoyed this book, even though it was definitely more geared toward younger kids. It touches on some really tough subjects like race, death, growing up and being the new kid. I wasn’t a huge fan of the graphic novel type layout of the book but looking past that, the story itself was a good one. It made me laugh a lot, which is a plus in any book that I read! I definitely recommend this book to junior high kids because I think it teaches a lot of really important issues in a fun, entertaining way for young readers.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

I am giving this book 3 out of 5 stars because it was a super easy read. Though it did make me smile and inspire me to read more about Native American culture and life, it did not really ~wow~ me. Unfortunately, I think it probably would have resonated with me more if I had read it at a younger age. Don’t you wish you could go back in time and tell your younger self all of the things they should be reading?!