The book that launched Sherman Alexie onto the YA market is now available in a deluxe collector's edition! Beautifully designed with a gifty new look that includes a foil-stamped, die-cut slipcase and 4-color interior art, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.
In his nationally acclaimed, semi-autobiographical YA debut, author Sherman Alexie tells the heartbreaking, hilarious, and beautifully written story of a young Native American teen as he attempts to break free from the life he was destined to live.
Winner of the 2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
Screenwriter, novelist and poet, Alexie bounds into YA with what might be a Native American equivalent of Angela's Ashes,a coming-of-age story so well observed that its very rootedness in one specific culture is also what lends it universality, and so emotionally honest that the humor almost always proves painful. Presented as the diary of hydrocephalic 14-year-old cartoonist and Spokane Indian Arnold Spirit Jr., the novel revolves around Junior's desperate hope of escaping the reservation. As he says of his drawings, "I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats." He transfers to a public school 22 miles away in a rich farm town where the only other Indian is the team mascot. Although his parents support his decision, everyone else on the rez sees him as a traitor, an apple ("red on the outside and white on the inside"), while at school most teachers and students project stereotypes onto him: "I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other." Readers begin to understand Junior's determination as, over the course of the school year, alcoholism and self-destructive behaviors lead to the deaths of close relatives. Unlike protagonists in many YA novels who reclaim or retain ethnic ties in order to find their true selves, Junior must separate from his tribe in order to preserve his identity. Jazzy syntax and Forney's witty cartoons examining Indian versus White attire and behavior transmute despair into dark humor; Alexie's no-holds-barred jokes have the effect of throwing the seriousness of his themes into high relief. Ages 14-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationGr 7-10
Exploring Indian identity, both self and tribal, Alexie's first young adult novel is a semiautobiographical chronicle of Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, a Spokane Indian from Wellpinit, WA. The bright 14-year-old was born with water on the brain, is regularly the target of bullies, and loves to draw. He says, "I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats." He expects disaster when he transfers from the reservation school to the rich, white school in Reardan, but soon finds himself making friends with both geeky and popular students and starting on the basketball team. Meeting his old classmates on the court, Junior grapples with questions about what constitutes one's community, identity, and tribe. The daily struggles of reservation life and the tragic deaths of the protagonist's grandmother, dog, and older sister would be all but unbearable without the humor and resilience of spirit with which Junior faces the world. The many characters, on and off the rez, with whom he has dealings are portrayed with compassion and verve, particularly the adults in his extended family. Forney's simple pencil cartoons fit perfectly within the story and reflect the burgeoning artist within Junior. Reluctant readers can even skim the pictures and construct their own story based exclusively on Forney's illustrations. The teen's determination to both improve himself and overcome poverty, despite the handicaps of birth, circumstances, and race, delivers a positive message in a low-key manner. Alexie's tale of self-discovery is a first purchase for all libraries.
—Chris ShoemakerCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
naomip
Posted October 15, 2011
Being a teenager is tough. Especially when you have few friends, can't afford anything other than the necessities, and have various medical problems for which you're teased. Being a teenager myself, I've been fortunate enough to have never experienced any of those things. However, those hardships are Junior's everyday reality in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. After reading the memoir, I am thankful for all my blessings and take refuse to take them for granted.
I absolutely enjoyed Alexie's memoir because I couldn't stop laughing all the way through it! The memoir managed to get across the serious themes of the book while adding Junior's witty humor many of the scenes. Throughout the book, there were cartoons that illustrated Junior's thoughts and ideas. Many of them were also very humorous.
Another contributing factor to my satisfaction with the memoir is the sense of hope that it gave me. Despite the odds stacked against him, Junior manages to overcome them. To me, Junior is a true hero and his character makes me unafraid to face the struggles that life sets before me. I really admire Junior for his strong sense of perseverance. Junior "had to add (his) hope to somebody else's hope" because he was the only one who had hope in the Spokane Reservation (43). Junior realizes that on the reservation, "Indians don't get to realize their dreams (52)." This upsets him and leads him to constantly bring his friends and family to believe in hope and in a bright future. In the memoir, Junior is a victim of constant ridicule from his fellow Indians and his white classmates. However, this doesn't stop him from dreaming of a better life or trying to obtain it.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian showed me what hardship means and how one unlikely boy with unfortunate circumstances can have the most courage and hope. Although I am not Indian, the book allowed me to connect with a different culture and understand their pain and joy.
Overview
The book that launched Sherman Alexie onto the YA market is now available in a deluxe collector's edition! Beautifully designed with a gifty new look that includes a foil-stamped, die-cut slipcase and 4-color interior art, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.
In his nationally acclaimed, semi-autobiographical YA debut, author Sherman Alexie tells the heartbreaking, hilarious, and beautifully written story of a young Native ...