The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian. NY: Little Brown. Arnold “Junior” Spirit is the protagonist in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. In the novel, Junior was born with hydrocephalus and his family suffers from poverty due to the fact that they are from the reservation, ultimately leading to Junior’s suspension from his school and being forced to transfer to a school with rich kids. The novel ends with Junior and Rowdy reconciling and Junior accepts himself as both Indian and American. I think the intended audience of the book is might be for ages 12 and up. Recommendations for follow up reading include Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. A lesson that can come from reading the novel is kids can relate to Junior in different ways if they also suffer from at least one of the many tragedies or difficulties Junior struggles a giant throughout the book. I believe The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian meets the physical developmental criteria because Junior suffers from being small for his age because he was born with hydrocephalus. It meets the mental developmental criteria because throughout the novel, Junior deals with finding who he is, Indian or American. It meets the emotional developmental criteria because Junior must deal with the fact that he is poor from the reservation, and suffers consequences along the road because of it. It meets the social developmental criteria because Junior is forced to socialize with rich white kids.