The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Part 1

     My initial thought when reading the description before actually starting the book was the amazement that the book was centered on a Spokane Indian reservation. I found this fascinating because this is actually the town that I grew up in and have never read a book that has been in it or even near it. One thing that I love so far about this book is that there are occasionally illustrations because the speaker likes to draw cartoons, but it is not quite a graphic novel. A reoccurring theme in the first half of this novel seems to be the idea of poverty. Since the main character comes from a family who does not make much money and does not even eat some nights because they can’t afford it, he is constantly comparing how his life is more difficult than other. He is typically comparing himself to those that live in Reardon, which is the location of his new school. An example of this can be when he was talking to Penelope about collecting money for the homeless and is thinking about the fact that he would not raise nearly as much on the reservation as she would collecting in Reardon. Character development can be seen in Junior. The main development that he made was making the life changing decision to leave the reservation school and go to Reardon High School after talking to Mr. P. This is a hard decision that he felt needed to be made if he wanted to get a real education because on the reservation they didn’t learn nearly as much and were even using the same textbooks that their parents had used. 

     I feel that while reading this novel it specifically talks about Caucasians and Native Americans, but does not touch on any other races. It seems that at the high school he transfers to there would surely be another ethnicity besides Caucasians, but the main character makes it seem as though that is all that is present at the school. Though Reading this has really opened my eyes to how Native American can actually be treated and how the reservations can be. I grew up in Spokane, but never actually went to the reservation.

     This novel shows adolescents at their most vulnerable state, which is when they are in high school. This is when the most insecurities present themselves and when students will bully their fellow students whether this be physical or verbally. In the case of Junior he was verbally abused by the Caucasian boys that he attended his new school with. I think that this text would appeal to adolescents since it is focused on issues that present themselves everyday in most high schools in America. 

Rating: B