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

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie was a fun, quick read. It definitely wasn't my favorite book at first. I wasn't a huge fan of reading a story told from the point of view of a 14 year-old boy. Also, I didn't gain a true connection to the main character, Junior, until I was halfway through the book. However, once I did gain that connection, the book was much more enjoyable to read, and I think that I would enjoy it even more if I read it a second time.

In my opinion, this book would be hard to teach in the classroom. There are topics in this book that make it seem like it wouldn't be the best option. Masturbation, pornography, the vulgar language, all have a fairly large role in this book, and that is the main reason why I feel as though it would be hard to teach. Now, I know that any student at that age would be aware of those things, but I feel as though the immaturity of students would overpower the possibility of gaining an actual lesson out of the book. It would depend on your students, I suppose. It would also depend on the age level. Teaching this to 8th graders would be drastically different than teaching it to sophomores.

If those topics can be brought up and dealt with in a successful manner in the classroom, then I think that this book would be great to use in the classroom. There are some great themes in this book, and Junior is an extremely resilient character. I could see many students connecting with this book. Even though I didn't enjoy the book at first, I feel as though if I had read it when I was in high school I might have enjoyed it more. It seems to me that girls would be less interested in the book than boys, but I could be wrong. The fact that the book is written like a stream of consciousness from a 14 year-olds perspective is the only reason why I think girls would have a harder time connecting to the book.

Overall, I did truly like this book. It was very fun to read once I got to that halfway mark and gained a connection with Junior. I can easily see why this book is taught in schools, and I can also see how there would be a lot of challenges to teaching it. I definitely wouldn't teach this book during my first few years of teaching. I would want to make sure I am confident in my choice to teach this and have a solid rationale for parents who would protest.