Tuesday, July 23, 2024

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie 🔖


First published September 12, 2007
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Literary awards: Note that some of these awards were rescinded after the author's behaviors toward female authors came to light. 
National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2007), Odyssey Award (2009), South Carolina Book Award Nominee for Young Adult Book Award (2010), Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee (2009), Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Award Nominee (2008), Florida Teens Read Nominee (2009), Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction (2008), The Inky Awards Nominee for Silver Inky (2009), California Young Readers Medal for Young Adult (2010), Lincoln Award Nominee (2011), James Cook Book Award Nominee (2009), The Inky Awards Shortlist for Silver Inky (2009)

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The story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with  drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.
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I put this one off for many years after the author's poor behaviors came to light. I kept it as I wanted to give it a chance anyway. When an author does something so hurtful to others, it places us in a position of wondering if we ignore the work that was done, or see if the message and beauty of it can somehow surpass what happened outside of the novel. In this case, for me, it didn't. 

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Why was this banned? inexplicit sexual nudity; inflammatory racial commentary; references to racism; and profanity. Controversy stems from how the novel describes alcohol, poverty, bullying, violence, sexuality and bulimia.

Nudity - there was no nudity, though there was discussion of girls' "curves" and "circles". I don't recall any other "nudity". 

Inflammatory racial commentary and references to racism - again, what does this mean? That discussion of how an Indigenous boy was treated poorly was questionable and shouldn't be discussed? I don't get it, because yes, it should be discussed. This complaint irks me. 

Profanity - A word 11 times, S word 5 times. No F word, other than Faggot 4 times. The R word is used once. 

Alcohol, poverty, bullying, bulimia, and violence descriptions - very real, very clear, very much discussed as a negative and not shown as desirable at all. 

Sexuality - The main male character was attracted to a girl and discussed this as a young boy is likely to do. There is an issue with discussion of masturbation, which I am not saying needs to take the book off the shelves, though I do think it was a bit too descriptive. It felt as if it had a different intent than the rest of the boy's musings, and it was uncomfortable. 

Would I want my kid reading this? No. The author has not won me over with his story and what he may have been trying to teach can be learned from other books. This work does not earn our attention.
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