Junior also refuses to give up on Rowdy, who feels so betrayed by Junior leaving the reservation school that he punches Junior at every opportunity. Not as he describes Junior's love for his family or his love of learning and basketball. Author Sherman Alexie, who based the story on his own life, is unflinching in his descriptions of alcohol-fueled hopelessness and poverty. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian may be some readers' first look at life on a reservation.
Racism, alcoholism, grief, identity, familial love, comics, basketball, and hope all mingle in this poignant story of a Native American boy attending an all-White high school. It's a shame that Alexie's harassment allegations have had to be added to the list. It's no wonder there are so many discussion guides on this book for school classrooms: There's lots to discuss. It explores racism and how we break past the limitations placed upon us by a racist world, as well as grief, tolerance, and forgiveness. It explores the deep bonds of family, friends, and community and how they help people through even the toughest circumstances. This book stands out for its unique voice in literature, for its brutal honesty - it's based on Alexie's own experiences - and for its poignancy. There's lots of drinking in the story, but only by adults, and there's nothing glamorous about it. He also engages in bawdy talk with his friends and gets an erection while hugging a school counselor. Junior enjoys masturbation and looking at magazines with nude pictures. Characters swear frequently, using all of the usual suspects, though when one boy uses the "N" word as part of a racist joke, he gets punched in the face for it. A suffering dog is shot and killed because the family can't afford to take it to the vet. A woman is run over by a drunk driver, people are burned alive in a camper, a man is shot in the face by accident by his friend, and there's talk of his friend hanging himself in jail afterward. Junior mourns the deaths of many people close to him, all of whom die due to severe alcohol abuse. It's a gritty look at the struggles of Junior, a teen living on a Native American reservation who decides to attend an all-White school. Before that, the book was often banned for its mature content. Alexie was accused of sexual harassment in 2018, 11 years after this book was first published he doesn't deny the charges. Parents need to know that The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a National Book Award winner by Sherman Alexie.
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