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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
~4.6~
"and he drove me home plenty of other nights, too. if you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty dang amazing."
lOoK aT mE gO! Yes yes yes, i am a reading MONSTER right now haha.
I picked this lovely little book up around two hours ago and i CoUlDn'T PuT iT dOWn. It was just the little pick-up i needed after finishing that whirl of emotions [b:The Four Winds|53138081|The Four Winds|Kristin Hannah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594925043l/53138081._SY75_.jpg|79888572].
I was a little skeptical about this book when I first opened it because of the writing style but then I was like. Oh wait. This is EXACTLY how I do annotations, reviews, and journals....so I just saw myself HAHA. Wow, it was a joy.
Anyways, I had no idea what to expect with this book just that it was supposedly really good. I was pleasantly surprised! Alexie had this odd gift of making some serious topics not very serious and should I be concerned? probably. But this book was a joy to read! I was worried that he would be bullied throughout the entire book at this new school but he was accepted and I love reading it! I think my favorite moments were when he was playing basketball. I love the Coach and Roger.
This book covered topics such as breaking away from the life he thought he was destined to live and he is getting a chance to prove people wrong. I thought that Alexie was able to weave these themes super easily into this book and I appreciated having fun but also talking about topics that can go very deeper.
okay, I must go, but I think that if anyone just has a little time then they should pick this book up! It is a quick read that is meaningful and fun!
HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!
"and he drove me home plenty of other nights, too. if you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty dang amazing."
lOoK aT mE gO! Yes yes yes, i am a reading MONSTER right now haha.
I picked this lovely little book up around two hours ago and i CoUlDn'T PuT iT dOWn. It was just the little pick-up i needed after finishing that whirl of emotions [b:The Four Winds|53138081|The Four Winds|Kristin Hannah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594925043l/53138081._SY75_.jpg|79888572].
I was a little skeptical about this book when I first opened it because of the writing style but then I was like. Oh wait. This is EXACTLY how I do annotations, reviews, and journals....so I just saw myself HAHA. Wow, it was a joy.
Anyways, I had no idea what to expect with this book just that it was supposedly really good. I was pleasantly surprised! Alexie had this odd gift of making some serious topics not very serious and should I be concerned? probably. But this book was a joy to read! I was worried that he would be bullied throughout the entire book at this new school but he was accepted and I love reading it! I think my favorite moments were when he was playing basketball. I love the Coach and Roger.
This book covered topics such as breaking away from the life he thought he was destined to live and he is getting a chance to prove people wrong. I thought that Alexie was able to weave these themes super easily into this book and I appreciated having fun but also talking about topics that can go very deeper.
okay, I must go, but I think that if anyone just has a little time then they should pick this book up! It is a quick read that is meaningful and fun!
HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!
3 1/2 stars
I really love Junior's optimism and desire to work for a better life for himself, but all I can think about after finishing the book is how sad I am for the rest of the people in his tribe. I wish they could have hope for a different future. Pretty honest insight into life on a reservation, though. Very thought provoking.
I really love Junior's optimism and desire to work for a better life for himself, but all I can think about after finishing the book is how sad I am for the rest of the people in his tribe. I wish they could have hope for a different future. Pretty honest insight into life on a reservation, though. Very thought provoking.
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Hands down, the most touching, funniest, saddest, novel of triumph I have read in a very, very long time. It should touch readers of any age who feel as if they're straddling two (or more) worlds, be them physical or intangible. It's a real emotional free-for-all -- I would be reading and laughing and then Sherman Alexie would kick me in the...well, he'd make me feel like I had been kicked. Fantastic, fantastic book.
Heads up TRIGGER ... the dog dies. It hits very early on (second chapter) and it hits HARD.
There are additional triggers, things people may not feel comfortable with (and why this book has been on the banned lists). Masturbation/boners/looking at pornography is talked/joked about. There's drinking, and consequences of alcohol. The words "retarded" and "nigger" and one instance of proFanity.
Lots of thoughts on this one ... and ultimately, I think that's a good thing? It means I'll remember it. I'll likely hang on to my copy for my personal library. Will I recommend it to others? Probably? It was engaging and kept my interest. Lots of notes/highlights, topics for discussion. LOTS of extras.
YA - the main character is 14 years old, an American Indian on a reservation. He's got some health issues, poverty problems. After reading several middle-grade books where parental abandonment was central to the story, I was glad here at least the parents were still in the picture, not perfect (drinking, poverty) but there, loving and supportive. Junior states "my mother and father are the twin suns around which I orbit and my world would EXPLODE without them."
1st person/past tense - very conversational ... despite the title, this doesn't read like a journal, but more like a conversation to the reader. Lots of humor, quite a few pictures too. The MC likes to draw comics, so they are included in the book and feel like a very natural addition.
I went with the audiobook ... read by the author, which was perfect. The slight accent, the emotion at times, felt more real that I think I've ever heard with an audiobook narrator. But as mentioned above ... there are pictures, which DO add a lot. I've gotten into the habit of putting both the audiobook and ebook on hold (plus in this case, I had a physical copy as well) as I like to have the text for reference, to SEE it, re-read portions, check if there are extras (like pictures or discussion questions, etc) that weren't included in audio. It was interesting, because there was a PDF included with the audio (although I'm never quite sure how to access this) and the audio referenced it (a line added "so if you want to see my picture, be sure to check out the PDF ...")
I was a little caught off guard ... not so much by how it ended, but that it ended when it did. Looking at my audiobook, there were almost two hours left! SO MANY EXTRAS! I like bonus content. Maybe only in the 10th Anniversary edition? There's "A Note From Sherman Alexie" in which he talks a lot about the inspiration for one of the characters. In the Kindle copy, there are some personal photos. There's additional "chapters" from Rowdy's POV. There's an alternate first chapter. There's a little from an Educator/English teacher with insight. There's fan artwork (Kindle copy), there's an author interview, there's an interview with the illustrator (this was in the physical copy too, but was one of the only extras other than discussion questions). There were discussion questions, which I always appreciate. I thought this set of questions was especially profound, really made me stop and think about things I might not have otherwise.
30 chapters ... which I had to count manually, as they were NOT labeled numerically/chronologically, but by descriptive headers (I love headers, but I must admit I like having numbered chapters, just for ease of knowing where I am and switching between formats more easily). After finishing the book ... I love to look back over the headers, and see what memories nudge from those few words. Per usual, the physical book doesn't even have a TOC.
Annoying music to start on audio (I've found this to be the case with most middle-grade/YA books, as I'm doing a #middlegradeMay ... and I guess I should have pushed this as it's NOT labeled MiddleGrade by most) and the narration was slow, I had to speed it up.
There are additional triggers, things people may not feel comfortable with (and why this book has been on the banned lists). Masturbation/boners/looking at pornography is talked/joked about. There's drinking, and consequences of alcohol. The words "retarded" and "nigger" and one instance of proFanity.
Lots of thoughts on this one ... and ultimately, I think that's a good thing? It means I'll remember it. I'll likely hang on to my copy for my personal library. Will I recommend it to others? Probably? It was engaging and kept my interest. Lots of notes/highlights, topics for discussion. LOTS of extras.
YA - the main character is 14 years old, an American Indian on a reservation. He's got some health issues, poverty problems. After reading several middle-grade books where parental abandonment was central to the story, I was glad here at least the parents were still in the picture, not perfect (drinking, poverty) but there, loving and supportive. Junior states "my mother and father are the twin suns around which I orbit and my world would EXPLODE without them."
1st person/past tense - very conversational ... despite the title, this doesn't read like a journal, but more like a conversation to the reader. Lots of humor, quite a few pictures too. The MC likes to draw comics, so they are included in the book and feel like a very natural addition.
I went with the audiobook ... read by the author, which was perfect. The slight accent, the emotion at times, felt more real that I think I've ever heard with an audiobook narrator. But as mentioned above ... there are pictures, which DO add a lot. I've gotten into the habit of putting both the audiobook and ebook on hold (plus in this case, I had a physical copy as well) as I like to have the text for reference, to SEE it, re-read portions, check if there are extras (like pictures or discussion questions, etc) that weren't included in audio. It was interesting, because there was a PDF included with the audio (although I'm never quite sure how to access this) and the audio referenced it (a line added "so if you want to see my picture, be sure to check out the PDF ...")
I was a little caught off guard ... not so much by how it ended, but that it ended when it did. Looking at my audiobook, there were almost two hours left! SO MANY EXTRAS! I like bonus content. Maybe only in the 10th Anniversary edition? There's "A Note From Sherman Alexie" in which he talks a lot about the inspiration for one of the characters. In the Kindle copy, there are some personal photos. There's additional "chapters" from Rowdy's POV. There's an alternate first chapter. There's a little from an Educator/English teacher with insight. There's fan artwork (Kindle copy), there's an author interview, there's an interview with the illustrator (this was in the physical copy too, but was one of the only extras other than discussion questions). There were discussion questions, which I always appreciate. I thought this set of questions was especially profound, really made me stop and think about things I might not have otherwise.
30 chapters ... which I had to count manually, as they were NOT labeled numerically/chronologically, but by descriptive headers (I love headers, but I must admit I like having numbered chapters, just for ease of knowing where I am and switching between formats more easily). After finishing the book ... I love to look back over the headers, and see what memories nudge from those few words. Per usual, the physical book doesn't even have a TOC.
Annoying music to start on audio (I've found this to be the case with most middle-grade/YA books, as I'm doing a #middlegradeMay ... and I guess I should have pushed this as it's NOT labeled MiddleGrade by most) and the narration was slow, I had to speed it up.
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Grief
Moderate: Child abuse
emotional
reflective
fast-paced