The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. New York: Little, Brown.

Genre & Themes: Modern Realistic Fiction - Native American, Indian reservations, high school, teen life, racism

Age Range: 12-17 years

Junior lives in a Native American reservation in which he lives his normal teenage life. It isn't until he begins school that he becomes completely frustrated with the lack of positive change in his environment around him. This realization drives him to injure his own teacher with a book. The incident results into him getting suspended. After a deep talk with the teacher he struck Junior decides to switch to another school off the reservation. Initially he has a rough start there, especially with the mostly walking commute there. He also starts having major conflicts with the people in the reservation that assume that Junior has taken a holier-than-thou attitude due to the switch. The people in the reservation call him a traitor and his only friend in the reservation becomes his biggest enemy. With time his social life there blossoms while his personal life, in his eyes, begins to fall apart. At the end the people around him begin to see that his actions were made to move in a positive direction and to inspire those around him to do the same.

Some of the awards won by this title:
2007 - National Book Award for Young People's Literature
2008 - American Indian Youth Literature Awards - American Indian Library Association Best Young Adult Book
2008 - Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Fiction and Poetry