The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Alexie, S., & Forney, E. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York, NY: Little, Brown.

Lexile Score: 600L

Summary: Arnold “Junior” Spirit lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation, where he discovers that alcohol is more important to most residents than an education is. Junior decides to transfer from his reservation school to Reardan High, a white school that is more than twenty miles away. Once he arrives, Junior finds that he is the only Indian there. His best friend on the reservation, Rowdy, stays behind and vows never to speak to Junior—the “traitor”—again. Meanwhile, most of the students at Reardan treat Junior as an outcast as well. Even though he’s known as a traitor and an outcast, he finds strength that he didn’t know he had through humor and will power.

Evaluation: There are several stereotypes in this story. The typical Indian is portrayed as an alcoholic, fighter, and poor. The male must be able to fight, not cry, and be strong/not show emotions. The typical White girl is blonde and beautiful, plays hard to get, and is popular. Females are definitely not depicted as well as males in leadership roles. It compares White people to Indians constantly mainly referring to the amount of money one family has. However, there is a variety of different cultures represented even though it’s not completely accurate or positively depicted. 

The story is very engaging, humorous, and interesting. There are various conflicts for children to explore such as death, poverty, and belonging.  The story offers children a variety of things to think about, to question, and to consider especially with the several themes within the text. There are lessons to be learned such as not giving up and being optimistic even at the worst of times. The story reflects a couple of different settings including the reservation and Reardan (the “White community”).

The illustrations, on the other hand, do not avoid societal stereotypes. They actually do the exact opposite: they reinforce the stereotypes. Children are not exposed to multiple perspectives because the story is written in first-person point of view, but different values are explored and shown throughout the different characters Junior meets. This story will definitely encourage many discussions because of the different values. Children will definitely be engaged and want to keep reading.

Literary elements: Foreshadowing- Ex. Junior's poor little dog Oscar is shot by his father in the book's second chapter. The death of the animal, who is a complete innocent, becomes a foreshadowed death for all of the deaths that will follow. We see this developed in the deaths of Arnold's grandmother, Eugene, and his sister Mary.  

Symbolism- Arnold's experiences with basketball become a testament to the power of positive thinking. At Wellpinit, Arnold was nothing more than an average player; however, by the end of the novel, he has becoming a basketball shooting hero. His success at the end of the story with his basketball accomplishments, symbolizes his overcoming of all of the hardships in his life and his overall success because he never gave up.

Allegory- The illustration of the Kentucky Fried Chicken reveals a hidden meaning. The chicken represents how Arnold is almost always hungry. Food and money is scarce on the reservation. While KFC might seem like fast food to some, the treat amounts to a holy experience for Arnold.

Mini lesson on symbolism: Have students pick an item in the classroom and write about what it could possibly symbolize and why. Then, share with a partner and read the writings a loud to that partner.

Target audience: 8^th grade for class read aloud, 7^th grade for individual reading because of the inappropriateness in some parts for certain students. Also, some students may find some parts a little confusing if they are too young to understand.