CITATION: Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Co.IDENTIFYING #: 9780316013680
CLASSIFICATION: Fiction
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
CALL #: FIC ALEXIE
RECOMMENDED AGE/INTEREST LEVEL:
RATING: 5
Annotation: After throwing a book at his teacher, Arnold Spirit transfers and attends high school off the reservation for the first time in his life, caught between two worlds, with both denying him acceptance.
Summary: Arnold Spirit is only a part-time Indian, because half of his life is on the rez, while the other half (after the book-throwing incident) is spent at the local public high school, where "the only other Indian is the school mascot". Belonging to two worlds but accepted by neither, Arnold escapes his loneliness and expresses himself in annotated drawings. He sees all the things his parents "could have been" if anyone had ever believed in them, and decides he will need to believe in himself in order to realize his dreams.
Notes: This is an excellent read, where you will laugh aloud and want to cry within minutes of each other. Sherman Alexie writes with a style that makes the readers feel they are almost living Arnold's experiences.
