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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
There are few books that have gotten such universal 4-5 stars from my GR friends, but this is one of them, and it deserves it: a National Book Award winner for Young People's Literature, written by a Native American author and based on his own life. As contemporary YA , it has some of that giddy twee voice, but the themes are so important and sometimes heavy that you need that fun, off-kilter voice to guide you along.
The main character, Junior, is a teenaged kid on a reservation in Spokane; he's adorable and dweeby and smart and has keen insights to the systemic racism, cultural oppression, and disenfranchisement of his people, even as he struggles and flails to figure out what to do with his life. Junior's cartoons are interspersed throughout as a way of expressing himself, of examining his life and conveying meaning, and it just feels so real -- like, when he doodles a caricature of his teacher, this is exactly what a teenaged boy would do when bored in class. The cartoonist really put thought into Junior's style: some of them are angry scribbles; others are more loving, photo-realistic sketches of his friends; others are meticulous almost-infographics.
Everything feels lived-in and realistic, probably because it's semi-autobiographical & heavily inspired by Sherman Alexie's own childhood and his own first year at an all-white high school. I'm counting this for my reading bingo square for a book with a disabled main character, too, because Junior has hydrocephalus (which is also based on Alexie's own experiences).
It's a heartbreakingly realistic portrait of poverty (the early incident with Oscar just... gutted me) and racism; but also affectionate familial relationships; the close dynamics and community mentality on a reservation; the fierce friendship between teenaged boys, that anguish of seeing someone leave you and go where you can't follow (Junior and Rowdy are the emotional heart of the novel for me, and I got most verklempt over their friendship, and over Rowdy generally). It's depicting something of crab mentality, and the book is Junior's voyage out of that. His teacher Mr. P's white guilt is what helps propel him out of his rut; the scene with Mr. P's self-examination, his too-late apology for his neglect of Native American kids and corporal punishment for children, was haunting.
The chapter that wrecked me most was probably "WHY CHICKEN MEANS SO MUCH TO ME", which is about poverty and how it shouldn't be romanticised, and isn't a great character-building silver lining: it just means you're poor, in those quietly banal yet soul-sucking ways that can combine to keep a people down. The book also includes some domestic abuse, alcoholism, and senseless death (as it is in real life; it catches you off-guard, blindsides you).
But it's really important to note that it's not too-schmaltzy, and it's not tragedy porn either: it straddles this perfect line of tongue-in-cheek yet bittersweet. Junior's developed his dark sense of humour precisely because it helps him cope. But they're all still capable of laughing and loving and celebrating, too. Ultimately, it's about breaking down prejudices, and encouraging our kids. And it was just really refreshing to see a YA book tackling issues of racism head-on, with frankness and honesty and calling it out as it is. The "part-time Indian" in the title refers to how when Junior's on the reservation, he's ostracised for being 'too white' -- but when he's at his school, he's 'too Indian'. (Which, on a personal note, is a feeling I empathise so deeply with: being mixed-race, not fully being one or the other, my identity see-sawing and never fully fitting in with either side.)
4.5 stars, and I'm wavering on whether to round up or down -- I want to dock a star because it didn't actually make me cry (but I got very teary early on, at the 42-page marker, ow my heart), and I wish it had been a bit longer, because it ends rather abruptly. But because it's so darn close, and #WeNeedDiverseBooks, imma give this 5 stars. It isn't my story or my lane, but it is a very important one and I'm so glad to have read this.
Favourite quotes below, SPOILERY:
"He'll be all right," she said.
But she was lying. Her eyes always got darker in the middle when she lied. She was a Spokane Indian and a bad liar, which didn't make any sense. We Indians really should be better liars, considering how often we've been lied to.
***
So I heard the boom of my father's rifle when he shot my best friend.
A bullet only costs about two cents, and anybody can afford that.
***
"Come on," Rowdy said. "I'll protect you."
He knew that I was afraid of getting beat up. And he also knew that he'd probably have to fight for me.
Rowdy has protected me since we were born.
Both of us were pushed into the world on November 5, 1992, at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. I'm two hours older than Rowdy. I was born all broken and twisted, and he was born mad.
***
If the government wants to hide somebody, there's probably no place more isolated than my reservation, which is located approximately one million miles north of Important and two billion miles west of Happy.
***
I didn't know how to start, so I just started with the biggest question.
"Who has the most hope?" I asked.
Mom and Dad looked at each other. They studied each other's eyes, you know, like they had antennas and were sending radio signals to each other. And then they both looked back at me.
"Come on," I said. "Who has the most hope?"
"White people," my parents said at the same time.
That's exactly what I thought they were going to say, so I said the most surprising thing they'd ever heard from me.
"I want to transfer schools," I said.
***
[I] found Rowdy sitting in his usual place on the playground. He was alone, of course. Everybody was scared of him.
"I thought you were on suspension, dickwad," he said, which was Rowdy's way of saying, "I'm happy you're here."
"Kiss my ass," I said.
I wanted to tell him that he was my best friend and I loved him like crazy, but boys didn't say such things to other boys, and nobody said such things to Rowdy.
***
"I'm going to Reardan tomorrow."
"You're really serious?"
"Rowdy," I said. "I'm as serious as a tumor."
He coughed and turned away from me. I touched his shoulder. Why did I touch his shoulder? I don't know. I was stupid. Rowdy spun around and shoved me.
"Don't touch me, you retarded fag!" he yelled.
My heart broke into fourteen pieces, one for each year that Rowdy and I had been best friends.
I started crying.
That wasn't surprising at all, but Rowdy started crying, too, and he hated that. He wiped his eyes, stared at his wet hand, and screamed. I'm sure that everybody on the rez heard that scream. It was the worst thing I'd ever heard.
It was pain, pure pain.
***
"Hey, Chief," Roger said. "You want to hear a joke?"
"Sure," I said.
"Did you know that Indians are living proof that niggers fuck buffalo?"
I felt like Roger had kicked me in the face. That was the most racist thing I'd ever heard in my life.
Roger and his friends were laughing like crazy. I hated them. And I knew I had to do something big. I couldn't let them get away with that shit. I wasn't just defending myself. I was defending Indians, black people, and buffalo.
So I punched Roger in the face.
***
Dodge's face was red.
Hot red.
I'd never seen an Indian look that red. So why do they call us the redskins?
***
So I'm never quite sure why we eat turkey like everybody else [at Thanksgiving].
"Hey, Dad," I said. "What do Indians have to be so thankful for?"
"We should give thanks that they didn't kill all of us."
We laughed like crazy. It was a good day.
***
"Where do you want to go?" I asked.
"Everywhere. I want to walk on the Great Wall of China. I want to walk to the top of pyramids in Egypt. I want to swim in every ocean. I want to climb Mount Everest. I want to go on an African safari. I want to ride a dogsled in Antarctica. I want all of it. Every single piece of everything."
***
"Is your Dad really coming to pick you up?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Are you telling the truth?"
"No," I said.
***
I tried to stop her, but Penelope ran over to Roger's car and told him the truth.
And Roger, being of kind heart and generous pocket, and a little bit racist, drove me home that night.
And he drove me home plenty of other nights, too.
If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing.
***
"You can do it," Coach said.
"I can do it."
"You can do it."
"I can do it."
Do you understand how amazing it is to hear that from an adult? Do you know how amazing it is to hear that from anybody? It's one of the simplest sentences in the world, just four words, but they're the four hugest words in the world when they're put together.
You can do it.
I can do it.
Let's do it.
The main character, Junior, is a teenaged kid on a reservation in Spokane; he's adorable and dweeby and smart and has keen insights to the systemic racism, cultural oppression, and disenfranchisement of his people, even as he struggles and flails to figure out what to do with his life. Junior's cartoons are interspersed throughout as a way of expressing himself, of examining his life and conveying meaning, and it just feels so real -- like, when he doodles a caricature of his teacher, this is exactly what a teenaged boy would do when bored in class. The cartoonist really put thought into Junior's style: some of them are angry scribbles; others are more loving, photo-realistic sketches of his friends; others are meticulous almost-infographics.
Everything feels lived-in and realistic, probably because it's semi-autobiographical & heavily inspired by Sherman Alexie's own childhood and his own first year at an all-white high school. I'm counting this for my reading bingo square for a book with a disabled main character, too, because Junior has hydrocephalus (which is also based on Alexie's own experiences).
It's a heartbreakingly realistic portrait of poverty (the early incident with Oscar just... gutted me) and racism; but also affectionate familial relationships; the close dynamics and community mentality on a reservation; the fierce friendship between teenaged boys, that anguish of seeing someone leave you and go where you can't follow (Junior and Rowdy are the emotional heart of the novel for me, and I got most verklempt over their friendship, and over Rowdy generally). It's depicting something of crab mentality, and the book is Junior's voyage out of that. His teacher Mr. P's white guilt is what helps propel him out of his rut; the scene with Mr. P's self-examination, his too-late apology for his neglect of Native American kids and corporal punishment for children, was haunting.
The chapter that wrecked me most was probably "WHY CHICKEN MEANS SO MUCH TO ME", which is about poverty and how it shouldn't be romanticised, and isn't a great character-building silver lining: it just means you're poor, in those quietly banal yet soul-sucking ways that can combine to keep a people down. The book also includes some domestic abuse, alcoholism, and senseless death (as it is in real life; it catches you off-guard, blindsides you).
But it's really important to note that it's not too-schmaltzy, and it's not tragedy porn either: it straddles this perfect line of tongue-in-cheek yet bittersweet. Junior's developed his dark sense of humour precisely because it helps him cope. But they're all still capable of laughing and loving and celebrating, too. Ultimately, it's about breaking down prejudices, and encouraging our kids. And it was just really refreshing to see a YA book tackling issues of racism head-on, with frankness and honesty and calling it out as it is. The "part-time Indian" in the title refers to how when Junior's on the reservation, he's ostracised for being 'too white' -- but when he's at his school, he's 'too Indian'. (Which, on a personal note, is a feeling I empathise so deeply with: being mixed-race, not fully being one or the other, my identity see-sawing and never fully fitting in with either side.)
4.5 stars, and I'm wavering on whether to round up or down -- I want to dock a star because it didn't actually make me cry (but I got very teary early on, at the 42-page marker, ow my heart), and I wish it had been a bit longer, because it ends rather abruptly. But because it's so darn close, and #WeNeedDiverseBooks, imma give this 5 stars. It isn't my story or my lane, but it is a very important one and I'm so glad to have read this.
Favourite quotes below, SPOILERY:
Spoiler
"Mom," I said. "We have to take Oscar to the vet.""He'll be all right," she said.
But she was lying. Her eyes always got darker in the middle when she lied. She was a Spokane Indian and a bad liar, which didn't make any sense. We Indians really should be better liars, considering how often we've been lied to.
***
So I heard the boom of my father's rifle when he shot my best friend.
A bullet only costs about two cents, and anybody can afford that.
***
"Come on," Rowdy said. "I'll protect you."
He knew that I was afraid of getting beat up. And he also knew that he'd probably have to fight for me.
Rowdy has protected me since we were born.
Both of us were pushed into the world on November 5, 1992, at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. I'm two hours older than Rowdy. I was born all broken and twisted, and he was born mad.
***
If the government wants to hide somebody, there's probably no place more isolated than my reservation, which is located approximately one million miles north of Important and two billion miles west of Happy.
***
I didn't know how to start, so I just started with the biggest question.
"Who has the most hope?" I asked.
Mom and Dad looked at each other. They studied each other's eyes, you know, like they had antennas and were sending radio signals to each other. And then they both looked back at me.
"Come on," I said. "Who has the most hope?"
"White people," my parents said at the same time.
That's exactly what I thought they were going to say, so I said the most surprising thing they'd ever heard from me.
"I want to transfer schools," I said.
***
[I] found Rowdy sitting in his usual place on the playground. He was alone, of course. Everybody was scared of him.
"I thought you were on suspension, dickwad," he said, which was Rowdy's way of saying, "I'm happy you're here."
"Kiss my ass," I said.
I wanted to tell him that he was my best friend and I loved him like crazy, but boys didn't say such things to other boys, and nobody said such things to Rowdy.
***
"I'm going to Reardan tomorrow."
"You're really serious?"
"Rowdy," I said. "I'm as serious as a tumor."
He coughed and turned away from me. I touched his shoulder. Why did I touch his shoulder? I don't know. I was stupid. Rowdy spun around and shoved me.
"Don't touch me, you retarded fag!" he yelled.
My heart broke into fourteen pieces, one for each year that Rowdy and I had been best friends.
I started crying.
That wasn't surprising at all, but Rowdy started crying, too, and he hated that. He wiped his eyes, stared at his wet hand, and screamed. I'm sure that everybody on the rez heard that scream. It was the worst thing I'd ever heard.
It was pain, pure pain.
***
"Hey, Chief," Roger said. "You want to hear a joke?"
"Sure," I said.
"Did you know that Indians are living proof that niggers fuck buffalo?"
I felt like Roger had kicked me in the face. That was the most racist thing I'd ever heard in my life.
Roger and his friends were laughing like crazy. I hated them. And I knew I had to do something big. I couldn't let them get away with that shit. I wasn't just defending myself. I was defending Indians, black people, and buffalo.
So I punched Roger in the face.
***
Dodge's face was red.
Hot red.
I'd never seen an Indian look that red. So why do they call us the redskins?
***
So I'm never quite sure why we eat turkey like everybody else [at Thanksgiving].
"Hey, Dad," I said. "What do Indians have to be so thankful for?"
"We should give thanks that they didn't kill all of us."
We laughed like crazy. It was a good day.
***
"Where do you want to go?" I asked.
"Everywhere. I want to walk on the Great Wall of China. I want to walk to the top of pyramids in Egypt. I want to swim in every ocean. I want to climb Mount Everest. I want to go on an African safari. I want to ride a dogsled in Antarctica. I want all of it. Every single piece of everything."
***
"Is your Dad really coming to pick you up?" she asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Are you telling the truth?"
"No," I said.
***
I tried to stop her, but Penelope ran over to Roger's car and told him the truth.
And Roger, being of kind heart and generous pocket, and a little bit racist, drove me home that night.
And he drove me home plenty of other nights, too.
If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing.
***
"You can do it," Coach said.
"I can do it."
"You can do it."
"I can do it."
Do you understand how amazing it is to hear that from an adult? Do you know how amazing it is to hear that from anybody? It's one of the simplest sentences in the world, just four words, but they're the four hugest words in the world when they're put together.
You can do it.
I can do it.
Let's do it.
Finally, finally read this book that was on my to read list for ever. I think enough has been said about the book and why it's great.
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Feeling hopeless? Here, read this book.
Tired of trying and fighting? Here, a book that can empower your soul to stand up against all odds.
I loved the strikingly humorous sketches. I enjoyed the easy-going writing style, but I still found myself wanting for more descriptive writing. I feel like some parts of the story needed more emotions. Also, shortcuts are often applied so I didn't get the idea of how things happened.
** spoiler alert**
For example, Penelope suddenly just became Arnold's girlfriend and I was like "WHAT?" But all in all, this story is so inspirational and profoundly moving. It holds the power to alter someone's mindset specifically about racism, segregation, and discrimination.
Tired of trying and fighting? Here, a book that can empower your soul to stand up against all odds.
I loved the strikingly humorous sketches. I enjoyed the easy-going writing style, but I still found myself wanting for more descriptive writing. I feel like some parts of the story needed more emotions. Also, shortcuts are often applied so I didn't get the idea of how things happened.
** spoiler alert**
For example, Penelope suddenly just became Arnold's girlfriend and I was like "WHAT?" But all in all, this story is so inspirational and profoundly moving. It holds the power to alter someone's mindset specifically about racism, segregation, and discrimination.
It's pretty great. I hated it when I had to read and write about it for school, but if you don't have to imitate the writing style or fill out worksheets after reading every chapter, you'll really enjoy it.
I enjoyed this book. It is well-written and sporadic.... just like a young teen. The author tackles subjects most of us want to skim over in life and with our children. I appreciate the candidness and perspective. I hope it will help me raise my teen, Hispanic son.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
fast-paced
This used to be a favourite when I first read it during my teenage years. It was also one of the first books I read in English, so most of the slurs in here probably went over my head - and man, is there a lot of slurs. Which leads me to my one major complaint about this book. It focuses mainly on racial discrimination, but also touches upon some other topics (listed under content warnings). While I think that the main topic was represented with great care, the same cannot be said for the rest. Intersectionality is a thing!
I also found out that the authour is a sexual predator, which considerably soured my reading experience. Needless to say, I will not be engaging with his works from now on.
I also found out that the authour is a sexual predator, which considerably soured my reading experience. Needless to say, I will not be engaging with his works from now on.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic friendship
Minor: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Car accident
My son had to read this for Summer Reading for high school. I chose to listen to it, while he read it. I 100% recommend this as an audiobook. The author read it and the way he tells the story is beautiful.
Yes, some of the subject material can be awkward, especially knowing that your 14 year old son is reading it. But guess what, 14 year old boys are awkward.
Reminded me of an awkward book that I read in high school, that is also on the banned books list. The Perks of Being a Wallflower changed my life and I can see how this book can change people's lives.
I did not love the portrayal of Native Americans being drunk all the time. Or the racism that Junior encountered. But the book made me laugh and cry.
Yes, some of the subject material can be awkward, especially knowing that your 14 year old son is reading it. But guess what, 14 year old boys are awkward.
Reminded me of an awkward book that I read in high school, that is also on the banned books list. The Perks of Being a Wallflower changed my life and I can see how this book can change people's lives.
I did not love the portrayal of Native Americans being drunk all the time. Or the racism that Junior encountered. But the book made me laugh and cry.
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes