1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alexie, Sherman. 2007. THE ABSOLUTLY TRUE DIARY OF A PART -TIME INDIAN. Ill. by Ellen Forney. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316019684
2. SUMMARY
Arnold (Junior) Spirit is a fourteen year old Indian boy living on a “Rez” (what he calls a reservation) near Spokane, Washington. Through his illustrated diary, Arnold shares with the reader his trials and tribulations of being teen boy dealing with tough issues such as poverty, prejudice, violence, alcoholism , love, death and the need to reach his full potential…something he won’t be able to do on the reservation.
Arnold makes the painful decision to attend a predominantly white school twenty two miles away from home in order to get the start he needs to be able to get out of the cycle so many of his tribe are stuck in. this decision, however does not sit well with some of the tribe members as well as his best friend, Rowdy. Struggling to fit in at a new school and to live among his people, Arnold’s life becomes one full of twists and turns.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The author portrays the story of Arnold (Junior) Spirit as a story of hope and potential one has to change their circumstances. Arnold was born into poverty with “water on the brain” to an alcoholic father and a former alcoholic mother on an Indian reservation. Each social issue is described often with humor but reveals enough to tug at the readers heartstrings. You can feel Arnold's resentment for living on the “rez” when he talks about being poor and describing the time when he had ten teeth removed at once because one trip to the dentist was cheaper than ten separate trips, or how the family dog could not be taken to the vet because a two cent bullet is cheaper than a visit to the veterinarian.
As the story unfolds in a first person point of view, Arnold is encouraged to attend Reardon, an all white high school not on the reservation. Arnold believes that the promise for a better life and getting out of the rez cycle begins with a solid education, one he cannot get on the reservation. Arnold must trek twenty-two miles each way to attend. Often he walks as the family does not have gas money, the car is broke down or his dad is not sober enough to drive him. Often Arnold hitch-hikes or occasionally doesn’t attend.
Going to Reardon brings its own set of problems. Being the only Indian kid where the school mascot is an Indian, adds to the already heavy burden Arnold is feeling at home where his tribe considers him a traitor for wanting to leave the reservation. Even his friend, Rowdy, wants absolutely nothing to do with him, often calling him names and acting out violently at times.
As time goes on Arnold notices that problems aren’t just at home. At his new school he finds students facing issues such as eating disorders, being ignored and uninvolved parents. These students may have the latest and greatest Arnold notices but it doesn’t replace the basic needs of love and acceptance many teens crave.
With the many painful moments the book explores, mostly dealing with death and often the factor of those deaths is alcohol….the author and the illustrator does an amazing job telling it with the humor you would expect from a teenage boy. Drawings, which are more than just doodles for the diary are done in cartoon-like pen drawings adding humor to the not so humorous topics addressed but reminds the reader that this is indeed the work of a 14 year old boy with the male humor and the sometimes lack of sensitivity the drawings provoke. Readers cannot help but love this comic tragedy.
4. AWARDS/REVIEWS
Winner of the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature
Winner of the 2008 Boston-Globe Horn Book Award
Winner of the 2009 International Book on Books for Young People Sweden - Peter Pan Prize
Winner of the 2010 California Young Reader Medal
Finalist for the 2007 Los Angeles Times Book Prize
HORN BOOK starred review: “The line between dramatic monologue, verse novel, and stand-up comedy gets unequivocally- and hilariously and triumphantly-bent in this novel.”
BOOKLIST review: “Alexie's humor and prose are easygoing and well suited to his young audience, and he doesn't pull many punches as he levels his eye at stereotypes both warranted and inapt. A few of the plotlines fade to gray by the end, but this ultimately affirms the incredible power of best friends to hurt and heal in equal measure. Younger teens looking for the strength to lift themselves out of rough situations would do well to start here.” By Ian Chipman
5. CONNECTIONS
Read A likes:
THE BONE PEOPLE by Keri Hulme
SHORTCOMINGS by Adrian Tomine
AN OFF YEAR by Claire Zulkey
RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Books written in diary format:
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID series by Jeff Kinney
THE DARK DIARIES series by Rachel Renee Russell
MONSTER by Walter Dean Myers
Just like Arnold and his diary, students could also write and illustrate journal entries.
Authors Website: http://www.fallsapart.com/
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