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A review by thelizabeth
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
4.0
This is younger YA than my favorites usually are, but undoubtedly a really good book. My sister is an Alexie fan and finally got a copy of this.
It's mostly a comic read, as Junior is funny and good and likes all-caps. He's dear even about the things that make him angry. He sounds to me maybe written a little younger than he is, actually, but he's a great character. He gives a really convincing picture of his surroundings on the Spokane reservation, what people's lives there are like on a micro level, which is really helpful and (I believe) unique. He establishes his background and various environments so well that soon you aren't even thinking about it, and things just start to happen in them.
Most, though, of the things that happen in the book aren't funny things. Near the end, when the tragedies just keep coming, you're confused why this book seemed so funny before. Because then you see the way that Junior has buoyed you up the same way he does with himself. But I really liked, actually, how the book handles its grief. Some stories that encounter grief feel the need to take you there in some deep, evocative, dramatic way. But less often in books does big grief come out in small ways, or (maybe worse) in no ways. Sometimes it is just a going-on or an acceptance of what is now real, and that is sometimes so much sadder. Junior doesn't wallow for a minute. He doesn't even heal in some dramatic way. He just experiences his regular life.
Maybe what's best about the way it's handled is that it isn't the primary theme of the book. Or not the one that seemed heaviest. Junior thinks a lot of thoughts here, and they're often showing something to you very sweetly. I love his feelings about tribes, about loosening the word, making tribes a fluid and inclusive thing. This idea helps him so much. Because, his other main theme deals with leaving, and he learns to find a way to bring what he needs with him. He confronts the spiritual leaving of one's tribe as well as leaving his actual home (at least, being a 9th-grader, just coming to understand the idea of leaving home). And, of course, the eventual leaving of death.
Also this is silly but I really enjoyed the basketball scenes in this book. I don't always enjoy sports scenes in novels, but I followed these really easily (have barely seen a basketball court since I was 13) and got a kick out of them.
Anyway, good luck always, Junior.
It's mostly a comic read, as Junior is funny and good and likes all-caps. He's dear even about the things that make him angry. He sounds to me maybe written a little younger than he is, actually, but he's a great character. He gives a really convincing picture of his surroundings on the Spokane reservation, what people's lives there are like on a micro level, which is really helpful and (I believe) unique. He establishes his background and various environments so well that soon you aren't even thinking about it, and things just start to happen in them.
Most, though, of the things that happen in the book aren't funny things. Near the end, when the tragedies just keep coming, you're confused why this book seemed so funny before. Because then you see the way that Junior has buoyed you up the same way he does with himself. But I really liked, actually, how the book handles its grief. Some stories that encounter grief feel the need to take you there in some deep, evocative, dramatic way. But less often in books does big grief come out in small ways, or (maybe worse) in no ways. Sometimes it is just a going-on or an acceptance of what is now real, and that is sometimes so much sadder. Junior doesn't wallow for a minute. He doesn't even heal in some dramatic way. He just experiences his regular life.
Maybe what's best about the way it's handled is that it isn't the primary theme of the book. Or not the one that seemed heaviest. Junior thinks a lot of thoughts here, and they're often showing something to you very sweetly. I love his feelings about tribes, about loosening the word, making tribes a fluid and inclusive thing. This idea helps him so much. Because, his other main theme deals with leaving, and he learns to find a way to bring what he needs with him. He confronts the spiritual leaving of one's tribe as well as leaving his actual home (at least, being a 9th-grader, just coming to understand the idea of leaving home). And, of course, the eventual leaving of death.
Also this is silly but I really enjoyed the basketball scenes in this book. I don't always enjoy sports scenes in novels, but I followed these really easily (have barely seen a basketball court since I was 13) and got a kick out of them.
Anyway, good luck always, Junior.