Blog Post 13~ Sherman Alexie: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie’s book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, is wonderfully written and also wittily illustrated by Ellen Forney. Alexie broaches many tough subjects within his book. Educators can easily use his book as a bridge into discussions with their students to deal with hard topics such as death, alcoholism, homosexuality, bulimia/anorexia, racism, hate and or bullying, friendship and or the lack thereof, poverty vs. richness, and so many other topics. The great thing about Alexie’s book is how he actually broaches so many of the topics inside. He doesn’t make a big deal about any of them specifically as talks about them and expresses his emotions. He instead just puts topics out there and is real about it. In my opinion, I think this is why the YA audience clicks with what is written inside Alexie’s book. Alexie is not sugar coating any side of life~ even masturbation. He just comes right out and says something along the lines of, “Yes, we all do it because it feels good, and if god didn’t want us to do it he wouldn’t have given us thumbs!” How honest, straightforward, and to the point, which I think makes the YA audience appreciate Alexie’s message. He’s not crude in any way.
Alexie also deals with many deaths throughout this book. He brings to light the plight of Rez Indians in a fresh way and shows a unique viewpoint to YA readers. I think inner city/ghetto YA readers could easily relate to the sheer amount of deaths Arnold Spirit experienced in his fourteen years (42-horrific right!). Many of those YA readers experience high losses in their family/ friends/ community members to rival gangs/violence/drugs/etc., and these totals could easily compete with Arnold’s high fatality number of 42. Educators can draw parallels from inner cities to the Rez quite easily by showing how alcohol can ruin the lives of those willing to let addiction control/take over their lives. There are so many connections readers can make with this book that the possibilities seem almost limitless.
Works Cited:
Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney (Illustrator). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Reprint Ed. New York: Little, Brown, 2009. Print.
