Just finished Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and I can see why it has topped almost every "must read" list for 2007 (except for an ALA award...interesting). Humor, poignancy, devastating sadness mixed with hope all make this book very real to me. The main character Junior recounts his freshman year in high school through his sharpening talent as a cartoonist and his writing. Junior was born with multiple medical issues. Still, he grows up to be a very intelligent teenager who realizes that if continues with school on the Spokane Reservation where he lives, he will be trapped there forever. He opts to go to a "white" school where he is treated as an outsider because he is an Indian. On the reservation, he is considered a traitor. As he makes friends and moves through a year full of tragedies that would devastate most adults, he wrestles with the problem of who he is, a theme with which all young adults will be able to identify.
This book is definitely for young adults. Although the reading level is not demanding, it contains mature subject matter particularly Junior's obsession with "boners" and masturbation.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment