Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, was the most banned and contested book this year. And last year. It has been banned and contested because it contains "anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence, and depictions of bullying (Bannedbooksweek.org)." I loved it.

The story follows a fourteen year old boy Arnold Spirit Jr. as he transfers schools, from the one located on the reservation where everyone from his tribe attends school to Reardan High School, a middle class white school located off the reservation. There, he deals with culture shock and racism as he struggles to find a way to balance his past with his aspirations. The book is written in a diary format with cartoons that Junior has drawn included, which add so much to the story. Dark, honest, and extremely funny; I loved this book.

This book in particular has been extremely controversial, containing extremely dark content (violence, alcohol abuse, death) and honestly addressing these very real problems and how a teenager might handle these circumstances. This honesty is wonderful. The book often looks at differences in the experiences of children growing up on the reservation and children growing up in white, middle class towns, and how those experiences are greatly influenced by the crimes of the past.

Sherman Alexie addressed the issues that many have found with his book in a Wall Street Journal post entitled "Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood" and claims that those who think that by banning books they are keeping kids safer are "way, way too late."

"When some cultural critics fret about the “ever-more-appalling” YA books, they aren’t trying to protect African-American teens forced to walk through metal detectors on their way into school. Or Mexican-American teens enduring the culturally schizophrenic life of being American citizens and the children of illegal immigrants. Or Native American teens growing up on Third World reservations. Or poor white kids trying to survive the meth-hazed trailer parks. They aren’t trying to protect the poor from poverty. Or victims from rapists. 

No, they are simply trying to protect their privileged notions of what literature is and should be. They are trying to protect privileged children. Or the seemingly privileged."

This book was wonderful, and I really do think that everyone should read it. Even in its darkness, it was charming and funny. The issues that it dealt with were real, the characters believable.  This story was amazing. I'm really glad that I read it and really excited to read some of Sherman Alexie's other works.