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A review by literatehedgehog
If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth
4.0
Junior high is difficult enough to navigate, let alone as a skinny, poor American Indian in the mid 1970s.
But don't let that introduction fool you - just because it's a novel with a pre-teen Indian doesn't mean we have to compare it to Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. They are both excellent books in their own right.
Like many teen/pre-teen novels, this one hits all the YA notes: discovering a best friend, prejudiced teachers, blossoming relationships with girls (and how that messes with friendships), music as balm and bonding, pushy entitled adults and bullying kids, not having the right clothes, or indoor plumbing at your house so you don't want to invite friends over...et cetera, et cetera. But, wondrously, you never feel purposely manipulated on your heart strings. The problems and pains, reactions and relationships are all real and true and on point.
Bonus love for some of relationships between adults and kids - Lewis and his uncle Albert, and Lewis, George, and George's dad. There are all kinds of ways adults and kids interact, and while there are a lot of negative and downright cruel scenarios depicted here, there is also a lot of love and respect.
An unexpected, surprising teen gem. Probably more enjoyable for adults who like YA than teens who read YA, though.
But don't let that introduction fool you - just because it's a novel with a pre-teen Indian doesn't mean we have to compare it to Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. They are both excellent books in their own right.
Like many teen/pre-teen novels, this one hits all the YA notes: discovering a best friend, prejudiced teachers, blossoming relationships with girls (and how that messes with friendships), music as balm and bonding, pushy entitled adults and bullying kids, not having the right clothes, or indoor plumbing at your house so you don't want to invite friends over...et cetera, et cetera. But, wondrously, you never feel purposely manipulated on your heart strings. The problems and pains, reactions and relationships are all real and true and on point.
Bonus love for some of relationships between adults and kids - Lewis and his uncle Albert, and Lewis, George, and George's dad. There are all kinds of ways adults and kids interact, and while there are a lot of negative and downright cruel scenarios depicted here, there is also a lot of love and respect.
An unexpected, surprising teen gem. Probably more enjoyable for adults who like YA than teens who read YA, though.