The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Sherman Alexie is a fulfilled writer with over seventeen novels and a variety of short stories. My favorite out of the books that have read is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  Other book by Sherman Alexie like The LoneRanger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven are similar in the style of writing but this book is more distinctive with the character and is easier to follow along with.  An Indian boy that lives on a reservation is approached by one of his teachers that tells him that he has potential but he is never going to get anywhere unless he leaves the reservation. With times being hard on the reservation, people depend on temporary fixes like alcohol, which they spend what little money they have on often over the necessities.  

This insightful novel walks you through a story of how a boy with an uncountable amount of odd stacked against him, perseveres though many challenges.  From being viewed as a traitor by his whole tribe, losing his best friend, and learning to survive being the only Indian in an all-white school. Not only does the book show the struggle that Junior is going through but also what goes on within the reservation and how tragedy is a regular thing in everyday life. When he moved school he expected his best friend Rowdy to come with him but instead he lost him and he became one of the biggest challenges he would have to face.

I really enjoyed reading this book because of how real the story was and how the author made it known what people on reservations go through on a daily basis but still in a way that made it seem less serious that it is.  This book was written in a very different writing style; the way that the author writes is very blunt and strait to the point, but it doesn’t take away from the story it shows what a harsh life he lead and how horrible things like dying in a car accident because they were drunk is a normal everyday thing.  It makes the book even more interesting to read. The author portrays the characters as very real and down to earth people it makes it easy to relate and get connected to the characters.  Over all it was a great book and I would absolutely recommend it.      

Book Review by Hanna W.