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

"I realized that I might be a lonely Indian boy, but I was not alone in the loneliness. There were millions of other Americans who had left their birthplaces in search of a dream."
-Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Pg. 217







Summary:  Arnold “Junior” Spirit decides he must go to high school off the reservation if he is going to be able to have the future he wants.  He figures it can’t be much different than being on the Spokane Indian reservation; he is not going to fit in anywhere he goes.  Born with medical problems has doomed Junior from the start.  Junior must learn to balance his life at home on the reservation and life at the local, mostly white, high school.  His struggles are real but he faces them all with a teenage boy’s wit and wisdom.

Themes: Reservation Life, Native Americans identity/Race, High School, Team Sports, Relationships/Family and Friends, Loss, Art, Poverty, Education, Traditions, Sterotypes

Grade Level: 9^th grade and up

Possible Student Reaction:  Some students will not be bothered by the language and sexual content of this book.  It may be the hook that drives some to read it.  For others, this kind of content may make them feel uncomfortable.  A teacher needs to know their readers. 

Looking past the censorship points, the reader will likely relate to some of the situations that Arnold finds himself in.  Those situations where they do not have firsthand knowledge, the reader is given a perspective that deals with both the truisms and falsehoods of Native American stereotypes.  Showing that a certain type of group does not make an individual is a valuable insight to recognize while growing up.

Analysis:  If you are going to teach this book, know why you are teaching it.  Be prepared for questions and open to discussing your goals for your students.  Alexie has given readers an engaging and hopeful story of a struggling Indian boy that does not fit in anywhere.  What is probably the most shocking theme through all the deaths, alcoholism, fighting, loneliness, and awkwardness is the message of Junior’s hopes; his constant crazy belief that each step back will eventually lead him forward. I did not think I would like this book and I did not want to read it.  I thought it would be negative and harsh but I found myself totally engaged in Junior and his struggles, always cheering him on.

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Discussion Questions

By drawing cartoons, Junior feels safe. He draws “because I want to talk to the world. And

I want the world to pay attention to me.” How do Junior’s cartoons (for example, “Who my

parents would have been if somebody had paid attention to their dreams” and “white/Indian”)

show his understanding of the ways that racism has deeply impacted his and his family’s lives?

Cultural outsiders who write young adult fiction tend to romanticize the impoverishment

of Indians. Junior is having none of this: “It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start believing that you’re poor because you’re stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you’re stupid and ugly because you’re Indian. And because you’re Indian you start believing that you’re destined to be poor. It’s an ugly circle and

there’s nothing you can do about it. Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons

about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.” How does Junior’s direct

language address this stereotypical portrayal of Indians? What about his language draws the

teen reader into the realities of his life?

At Junior’s grandmother’s funeral, Junior’s mother publicly gives a white billionaire his

comeuppance to the delight of the whole community. “And then my mother started laughing,”

Junior says. “And that set us all off. It was the most glorious noise I’d ever heard. And I realized

that, sure, Indians were drunk and sad and displaced and crazy and mean but, dang, we

knew how to laugh. When it comes to death, we know that laughter and tears are pretty

much the same thing. And so, laughing and crying, we said goodbye to my grandmother. And

when we said goodbye to one grandmother, we said goodbye to all of them. Each funeral

was a funeral for all of us. We lived and died together.” How does this reflect a cultural

insider’s perspective and how does it disrupt stereotypes about stoic Indians?

These discussion questions were part of the Reading Group Guide on Sherman Alexie's website: http://www.fallsapart.com/index.html.