This book is an excellent story about teen life, family, and Indian heritage. It’s an honest depiction of childhood angst in many ways. The story balances itself by being funny and harsh at times. It’s not a completely uplifting tale, yet it’s still one that brings many heartfelt moments. The writing is easygoing. It's a must-read for all. ( )

The thing about prejudice is that sometimes, you miss out. Literary fiction and I don’t get along at all, but at some point, the universe kicked The Absolutely True Diary my way and ten years later, here it was, perfect for an afternoon with a nasty cold; distracting and cathartic. Honestly, the edition with the forward from Markus Zusak (The Book Thief) said it best: “When a person reads this book, they will laugh in the following ways:

lightly
excitedly
mournfully
raucously
knowingly
loudly
softly
tearfully
surprisingly
lovingly
angrily
admiringly."

A mostly true description, just like the book. Diary uses the format of journal and sketchbook of Junior, private name Arnold Spirt. He shares with the reader his matter-of-fact observations about growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, introducing the reader to many of the unique challenges people living there face. As Zusak notes, the tone is hilarious, sometimes bitingly so.

“You can’t teach at our school if you don’t live in the compound. It was like some kind of prison-work farm for our liberal, white, vegetarian do-gooders and conservative, white missionary saviors.”

His own life takes a dramatic turn as he enters high school and decides to leave the rez to go twenty-two miles away to an all-white school.

“What was I doing at Reardan, whose mascot was an Indian, thereby making me the only other Indian in town?”

It is unapologetically not sensitive in language, which, to be honest, does more to lend the realism of junior high than most books. Alexie and I were likely contemporaries; while we didn’t have quite as many fights at my schools, I recognize the physicality of his description. Sadly, an interplay where Junior is called ‘fag’ is also very familiar. Alexie does an excellent job, however, of layering this homophobia into a couple of complicated and deep relationships with male friends.

“I had the sudden urge to hug Gordy, and he had the sudden urge to prevent me from hugging him. ‘Don’t get sentimental,’ he said. Yep, even the weird boys are afraid of their emotions.’

There is also a lot of loss and grief intermixed with the humor. It is one of the many ways Alexie helps educate the reader, indirectly acknowledging the health inequities Native Americans on the reservations face. As Junior notes,

“I’m fourteen years old and have been to forty-two funerals.”

The language, I think, is very fourteen year-old appropriate. The observations are devastatingly true, but I am not completely confident of them coming from a young person’s brain, no matter how genius. But I’m okay with that.

What the reader may or may not be okay with is Alexie’s history as using power inappropriately over women who were seeking professional connections or assistance. Personally, I don’t feel it is so egregious as to distract from the writing. Though he has stated he has issued appropriate apologies, the most public of the cases comes from an accuser who has her own complicated relationship with publicity and identity; in short, it’s complicated.

“So I draw because I feel like it might be my only real chance to escape the reservation. I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats.” ( )

National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2007)
Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction (2008)
American Indian Youth Literature Award (2009)
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2008)
California Book Award for Young Adult Fiction (2008)

Maybe it's because going into this knowing about Alexie's sexual misconduct, but I felt that there was a somewhat disingenuous and deeply narcissistic quality to the book.

It's honestly a shame that Eric Gansworth's Apple: Skin to the Core didn't come out before this. Even though that one is not YA (though it is classified as such) and is a memoir, there's brilliant depth and honesty to it, not to mention Gansworth hasn't (to my knowledge) sexually harassed dozens of women. ( )

an interesting tale told mainly through words and not really through pictures, although there are some in the book. the drawn pictures added a flavor but didn't overrun the storyline. ( )