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

[oyceter]

Junior has lived all his life on the Spokane Indian Reservation, but he decides to attend a non-reservation (read: all white) school in an attempt to find hope. His move ends up breaking apart his friendship with Rowdy, and soon, Junior has to fight for acceptance in both his new school and back at the reservation.

As an added bonus, he wants to be a cartoonist, so we get some truly hilarious cartoons (I love the romance novel cover lampoons). The book is illustrated by Ellen Forney.

Alexie does awesome voice in this book; Junior is sarcastic, funny, heartbreaking, and struggling to make sense of everything, usually at the same time. He doesn't overlook the desperate circumstances on the rez, but he also doesn't downplay just how much white complicity there is in that, from the white savior teachers to pretendians. I loved how complex Alexie made Junior's decision; how he does find more opportunities off the rez, but also how betrayed the rez feels, and how all this plays out in local basketball.

While the book is very funny, largely thanks to Junior's voice, it's also very depressing at times, just because of the circumstances in the rez, from the influence of alcohol to the way poverty and racism just keep grinding people down and down and down. Alexie is very good at navigating tragedy and humor all at once; what could be pathos is instead just Junior's harsh reality, but the book still avoids being a problem novel, largely by being very aware of the political complexity involved in Junior's life.

Definitely recommended; I'm looking for more of Alexie's books now.

Links:
- rachelmanija's review
- minnow1212's review
- gwyneira's review
- troisroyaumes's review

Comments

[maboheme.livejournal.com]

I love Alexie! I definitely rec Reservation Blues, and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.

[oyceter]

Thanks for the recs! I'll check those out.