The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
This is the story of Junior, a fourteen-year-old boy living on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington. Junior's family is very poor and their resources on the reservation are very limited. Junior has always enjoyed learning, but one day realizes how behind his school is after opening his geometry book and seeing it's the same exact book his mother used when she was in school. Following the advice of one of the teachers, Mr. P., Junior decides to attend school off the reservation at a wealthier, "white" school called Reardan. Junior is soon ostracized by the reservation community and especially his best friend, Rowdy, for deciding to go to school off the reservation. Junior feels like a fish out of water at his new school, but eventually makes a couple of friends. The story progresses through Junior making it onto the varsity basketball team and playing against his old school, losing his grandmother and later his father's best friend, Eugene, and eventually even his sister. Each one of their deaths highlight the greater problem facing the Indian population: alcoholism.
I really loved this book. I felt like it was a very raw and accurate account of a young Native American growing up caught between the two worlds of inside and outside the reservation. I found it heartbreaking that the people on these reservations have such limited resources and hope for a future. I think what Junior did took a lot of courage and the fact that he still faced so many tragedies shows the reality of the Native American people after years and years of being pushed to the side and left to fend for themselves. I think this book is important for young adults to read and to realize the challenges faced by other cultures and by those living in poverty.
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