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

 

 

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. NY: Little Brown

 The book follows a fourteen-year-old boy during his freshman year of high school.   He lives with his family on the Spokane Indian Reservation near Wellpinit, Washington. It is written in diary style, moving from the start of the school year to the beginning of summer. It includes both Junior's written record of his life and his cartoon drawings, some of them funny and others more serious.  The story begins by introducing Junior, the main character. He tells of his birth defects, including the fact that he was born with hydrocephalus and therefore is small for his age and suffers from seizures, poor eyesight, stuttering, and a lisp. As a result, Junior has always been picked on by other people on the reservation. Junior’s family is extremely poor and has limited access to opportunities.  Junior's only childhood friend is Rowdy, a classmate who is abused at home and is known as a bully on the reservation. Despite his intimidating role, Rowdy often stands up for Junior and they bond by enjoying kids' comics.

  Junior's first day of high school is pivotal to the plot of the novel. When Mr. P, his geometry teacher, passes him his textbook, he sees his mother’s name in it, realizing that the book is an old hand-me-down. Angered and saddened by the fact that the reservation is so poor that it cannot afford new textbooks, Junior violently throws the book, which hits Mr. P's face, breaking his nose. When he visits Junior at home, Mr. P convinces Junior to transfer to the high school in the nearby farming town of Reardan.  The town of Reardan is far wealthier than Wellpinit, and Junior will be the only Indian to attend.  It is difficult, but Junior's family support him and do what they can to make it possible for him to stay in the new school. Rowdy, however, is upset by Junior's decision to transfer, and the once-best friends have little contact during the year.

 He makes a few white friends and his interactions with the white students give him a better perspective both on white culture and his own. He realizes how much stronger his family ties are than those of his white classmates.  Junior also realizes that the white students have different rules than those he grew up with, which is evident when he reacts to an insult from the school's star athlete, Roger, by punching him in the face. Junior hit him, as he would have been expected to do on the reservation, and he expects Roger to get revenge. But Roger never does; in fact, Roger and his friends show Junior more respect. 

 Junior tries out for the basketball team and to his surprise, he makes the varsity team, which pits him against his former school, Wellpinit, and specifically Rowdy, who is Wellpinit's star freshman. Their first match demonstrates to Junior just how angry the reservation people are at him for transferring: when he enters the court, they boo and insult him.

 Junior experiences the loss of his grandmother and a family friend, Eugene. After grieving and reflecting on his loved ones' deaths, Junior plays in his basketball team's second match against Wellpinit. Reardan wins and Junior gets to block Rowdy. Junior feels triumphant until he sees the Wellpinit players' faces after their defeat and remembers the difficulties they face at home and their lack of hope for a future; ashamed, he runs to the locker room, where he vomits and then breaks down in tears. Later, Junior receives another blow in hearing the news of the death of his sister and her husband who were killed in a fire at their trailer.

 In the course of the year, Junior and his family suffer many tragedies that are all related to alcohol abuse. These events test Junior's sense of hope for a better future and make him wonder about the darker aspects of reservation culture.  He is torn between the need to fit in his new, all-white school and holding on to his Indian heritage, leading him to face criticism from his own community. Despite these challenges, they also help him see how much his family and his new friends love him, and he learns to see himself as both Indian and American. Meanwhile, Rowdy realizes that Junior is the only nomad on the reservation, which makes him more of a "traditional" Indian than everyone else in town. In the end, Junior and Rowdy reconcile while playing basketball and resolve to correspond no matter where the future takes them.

 My favorite part of the book is when Junior decides to take control of his destiny and begins going to Reardan Highschool instead of the school on the reservation. He sees how his people are hopeless and joyless on the reservation and he wants better for himself. He is scared, but he overcomes his fear and joins the “white people”.  

 My least favorite part of the book was when his dog got sick.  He was helpless and couldn’t help him because his family couldn’t afford a vet.  He had to watch his friend suffer until his dad shot the dog and put it out of misery.  I cried after reading this part.  

 I found a great teaching guide on the Scholastic website.  It includes ideas on teaching the book, and extension activities as well. The link is below.  

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/absolutely-true-diary-part-time-indian-storia-teaching-guide/