The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Wow. I finished this book and just thought how good it was. Humorous, heartbreaking, hopeful. You think you got it bad? Read about Junior's life and think again.

Junior is an Indian living on the reservation with his father, mother, loving grandma and sister. Although his family is a bit dysfunctional, his dad is an alcoholic, his sister hardly ever emerges from the basement, and he's a pretty strange kid himself, they love each other. Being an Indian on the reservation is a hard life. Booze hold sway over a lot of the people, and life is difficult and everyone is poor. Junior is a smart kid though and at the high school on the rez that he has just started freshman year at, he's not getting the education he wants. That's when he decides to transfer to the local town's high school that's twenty-two miles away. This decision throws all sorts of screws into his life. His best friend, Rowdy, who used to protect him against bigger guys on the rez now hates him, he's the only Indian at an all white racist school in the country, the rest of the tribe thinks he's a traitor, and getting to school is always an issue.

Just when things start looking up, Junior makes the basketball team and kids at his school are starting to notice him, all sorts of problems occur. Death is a part of Junior's life, but it hits way too close to home now.

Interspersed throughout the novel are cartoons that Junior drew. These add some life and humor to the story. Although a lot of this novel is dark, philosophical, and deals with heavy depressing issues, it maintains its humor and hopeful spirit the entire time. Junior is a kid that most can relate to and his story is inspirational and engaging.

Sherman Alexie won the National Book Award for this novel and he deserved it. I would recommend this to anyone 13+. There is profanity and some talk about the male anatomy...to put it lightly. Junior is a kid with courage and enough sense to make the best of terrible situations. We can all learn something from his attitude and this story.

A Beautiful Novel

The Help was perhaps one of the best books I've read in a while. It's taken from three different perspectives and seamlessly woven together. The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi 1962. Skeeter, who has just graduated from college is scorned by her mother for not having her MRS, but she wants to become a writer. Aibileen is an older black maid who works for a white family. Minnie is a fiery black woman who works as a maid, but has crossed the wrong white lady. Their lives tangle together when Skeeter decides to share their side of the story; what it's like to be a black maid working for a white family.

Kathyrn Stockett did a phenomenal job writing this book. She captured the helplessness, heartbreak, anxiety, joy, and frustration of the characters. Her writing recalled my own hurts and it felt like she had taken the words that I couldn't form for myself and written them down in this book.

I actually listened to this book on tape, which I always think is cheating in a way. After hearing this read to me, I will never think that again. It actually made all the difference having it read to me. The dialog is written in southern dialect, so it's easier to say the words out loud anyway. With three perspectives, it helped having three different readers. I would highly recommend listening to this book, or just reading it for that matter. The story was rich and I could not stop listening. I thought I would only listen to it in the car, but I found myself popping it into my DVD player and just sitting and staring off, imagining what was happening.

O and for those of you who like reading books before they are raped by the silver screen, you may want to give this one a read pretty soon.