"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" Sherman Alexie   


I loved this book! It was easy, fun, and inspiring. Not saying I love easy books but its always fun to read something fast and also be invested. I was also really invested because of how many references it had to Spokane and the Spokane tribe. I was trying to visualize in my mind if I had been to the certain places that Alexie had mentioned. I also had a personal connection because I used to sell sno cones at Powwows so I had a clear visual of what those looked like. I wish I knew more about the Native American culture, and although this book did teach me a lot, I was yearning for more. I loved Alexie's perspective on his culture as well. For me usually tribe members are so proud of who they are but Alexie spills the truth. And sure he was different because of some birth defects but that didn't stop him. One scene I loved the most was when he transferred to Reardan and he lists the rules of fighting according to the reservation and decides he needs to fight Roger. After he fights him, he is respected. I believe this is the first instance of Junior becoming aware of the differences of life outside of the reservation.
I also learned that this book came out a long time ago. For some reason I thought it was a new book and that why he was coming to Get Lit? Or was that someone else? I think Im confused. Anyway, I had a couple cast members come up to me at rehearsal while I was reading and said they had read it before and they loved it! One girl even told me she read it in elementary school??? Some parts of this books seems pretty inappropriate for elementary student, but I wouldn't hesitate teaching this book in a high school setting. It deals with so many issues that high schools are going through and could relate to.  And it is such a quick read. It would also be a cool book to teach in Spokane because of how much he talks about the area. The teacher could take the different places he mentions and could possibly create field trips, I believe this would increase interest in the book.

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