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A review by quotekatie
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
5.0
On his first day of class, Junior threw a geometry textbook at his teacher, and broke the teacher''s nose. It was an accident, of course.' Junior has been beat up so many times, he doesn''t like to start fights. But Junior was angry.
Angry that his textbook was over 30 years old, angry that living on an Indian Reservation meant he got a second-rate education. Junior loves to learn, possibly because his brain has too much grease: he was born with hydrocephalous, or water on the brain.
But he can''t learn here, so he does something drastic. He transfers to a white school 22 miles away. Now he''s a traitor at home and a novelty at school, where the only other Indian is the mascot.
Junior's reflections on school, popularity, poverty, racism and alcoholism are all delivered through his diary and his cartoons, with a hefty dose of humour that makes this book both hilarious and thought-provoking.
Although the heavy issues addressed by Alexie could easily make this book depressing and unreadable, Junior's cartoons and sense of humour keep it from getting bogged down.
This book won the National Book Award for a reason - it's fantastic.
Angry that his textbook was over 30 years old, angry that living on an Indian Reservation meant he got a second-rate education. Junior loves to learn, possibly because his brain has too much grease: he was born with hydrocephalous, or water on the brain.
But he can''t learn here, so he does something drastic. He transfers to a white school 22 miles away. Now he''s a traitor at home and a novelty at school, where the only other Indian is the mascot.
Junior's reflections on school, popularity, poverty, racism and alcoholism are all delivered through his diary and his cartoons, with a hefty dose of humour that makes this book both hilarious and thought-provoking.
Although the heavy issues addressed by Alexie could easily make this book depressing and unreadable, Junior's cartoons and sense of humour keep it from getting bogged down.
This book won the National Book Award for a reason - it's fantastic.